Best Of Both Worlds
by xoxo-catzeyez-xoxo
Summary: Gabriella is a shy east high student, her alter ego is Brie Hudgens confident queen. Troy Bolton is an egotistical jerk. What happens when the three meet? Review Please! Oh and of course it's Troyella!
1. The Stars

**Urm, well I have to explain myself now. The reason why I've deleted everything for this story is because I'm re-writing it! I looked over the story before and realised that it was too much like Hannah Montana and I didn't like that, I wanted it to be more unique. Also my writing style has changed and developed and it's better!**

**So after finally finishing My Cinderella Story, I've decided to post this up again. **

**I hope that no one is mad! I hope you enjoy it and if you don't I'll post up the original again. But I think that this is now much much better. **

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**Best of Both Worlds**

**Chapter One**

**The Stars  
**

"_Brie! Brie! Brie!"_

She stood waiting for her cue and listened out at the crowd. They were screaming her name over and over again, sounding restless, but that was the fun of it all. She grinned, feeling her adrenaline running.

"_Brie! Brie! Brie!"_

They chanted her name again and again. This time she was the one feeling restless, she wanted to jump out onto the stage and sing her heart out. She could feel the warmth and love radiating from the stadium, alongside that excitement and enthusiasm. She was thankful that they had all come to see her. She climbed onto the small platform that would lift her up and grinned at the crew, giving them thumbs up.

"There are people of all sorts out there." One of them told her. "There are kids, teens and loads of older people. It's packed out!" He gushed and she blushed slightly. It was all too overwhelming but she welcomed it happily.

The audience was getting more restless by the second. Their eyes were glued to the stage, awaiting her arrival. Wondering where she would make her entrance, where they would first set their eyes on her.

"_Brie! Brie! Brie!"_

She took a sip of her Evian water and then passed the bottle back to one of the crew members. She craned her neck and smiled when she heard them chanting again.

Finally, it was time...

"_Brie! Brie! Brie!"_

The LCD screen lit up and began counting down the seconds until she would make her much-awaited arrival.

"5… 4… 3… 2… 1!" The crowd counted along and then burst into a chorus of screams when she jumped up on stage. The lights flashed everywhere; changing from yellow to blue to red to green and then fading away. She grinned, imagining the fun that Darren had with putting together the show. She stood waiting, just like the crowd, for that booming overhead voice that would kick off the evening.

The lights unexpectedly flashed and settled on her face, allowing her to smirk and cast her green eyes up, giving the crowd a small wink. That drove the crowd insane, they cheered as the backup dancers joined her on the stage. The dancers jumped around until they finally settled and stroke a pose, a different coloured light landed on each dancer.

"Introducing…" The voice over man, who she knew as Darren, spoke in a very thunderous, powerful voice. "…The unbelievable…indescribable Brianna Hudgens! Baby B!" Darren's booming voice stopped, leaving the crowd silent for a moment. She opened her extremely glossy lips and began to sing.

_Every day I try to play another game_  
_But my heart can't take it  
I try to find another boy  
But all the while I can't face it_

She moved from her place, singing out to all her fans as the back-up dancers moved to the beat.

_Why do I miss you so much?  
I wanna stop to turn inside  
Oh baby please  
Give us one more try_

She smiled and waved out at various people in the audience, giving them a thrill.

_See you out with all your friends  
Laughing it up as you pretend  
To have a good time, I know cause I'm living the same life_

She moved to the other side of the stage waving out to the other half of her audience.

_I'm about to go to say  
We can't keep living this same way  
So I'll be the one  
Yeah I'll say it I'll say it I'll say it I'll say it again_

She moved back to her first position, ready to begin the dance.

_Baby, come back to me  
In my heart I still believe  
We were meant to be  
Together so whatever it takes_

She perfected each move as she danced and sang.

_Baby come back to me  
I should've never set you free  
Love maybe  
Come back_

She stopped dancing as the lights flashed again and the crowd screamed louder. She let out a little giggle and then started on the next verse.

_I wanna call, but then I stall  
Cause after all, I just couldn't take it  
Cause if your play was to push me away  
You know the day, my heart you'd break it_

_I know we made a mistake  
It's just like your foolish pride  
Come back to me  
Let us try, let us try, let us try_

She repeated the same steps as before, glad that she had gotten all the moves right.

_Baby come back to me  
In my heart I still believe  
We were meant to be  
Together so whatever it takes  
Baby come back to me  
I should've never set you free  
Love maybe  
Come back_

The lights faded to black and there was only one spotlight on her. This was her favourite part of the song.

_You know you miss your Baby B  
And I can see that you think about me  
So why do you act like you don't care  
Like all this love between us isn't there  
I know that you're upset  
I know I did you wrong  
I know that you want me to pay for all the pain I've caused  
But in the end it all comes down to just one thing  
It's you and me  
So I sing_

She smiled and winked out at the crowd as the stage burst into a show of lights and colours. The back-up dancers began to move to the beat again as she belted out the last chorus of the song.

_Baby come back to me  
In my heart I still believe  
We were meant to be  
Together so whatever it takes  
Baby come back to me  
I should've never set you free  
Love maybe  
Come back_

The music ended and she blew the crowd a kiss and gave them her signature peace sign. The crowd went wild, making her smile. She waved at them at the same time as the back-up dancers stood beside her. They waved out at the crowd and then exited the stage, leaving her on her own with the crowd. She lifted the mike to her mouth.

"Good Evening San Fran-sis-co! Woo! I'm having a hell of a time, are you?" She yelled out at the crowd. Their excitement matched hers as they yelled 'yeah' and 'hell yeah' back at her. She smiled, proud of herself for singing, and thankful for her amazing fans. Her smile widened when she heard the small chorus of 'I love you's' throughout the crowd.

"Why thank you! I love you guys too! You're the only reason I'm up here and I know that sounds completely clichéd but it is true! Thanks for coming out to see me. This next song I'm going to sing is dedicated to all of my friends and all of my fans. Yes that means you lot!" She said and the crowd cheered. "It's all about letting loose and just having some fun!" The music began to play and she took a sip of water before opening her mouth to sing again.

_The days are long, I just got home  
And work is driving me crazy  
I could do up, I could go out  
But Im feeling too lazy  
I wanna run, I wanna have fun  
But I don't wanna work it  
All I wanna so is go kick it with my crew tonight_

_All I do is let go tonight  
Feeling right, I just wanna forget about it  
All I wanna do is let go tonight  
Wind it up without my game  
All I wanna do is get down tonight  
Move around tonight, don't really care about it  
All I wanna do is let go tonight  
Im feeling free tonight it's just for me_

_I count on you you're coming too  
Yeah I hope that you feel it  
Get out my face and out my words  
Yeah you've already seen it  
Let down your hair, the hell who cares  
Gonna let it all out  
All I wanna do is kick it with my crew tonight_

_All I do is let go tonight  
Feeling right, I just wanna forget about it  
All I wanna do is let go tonight  
Wind it up without my game  
All I wanna do is get down tonight  
Move around tonight, don't really care about it  
All I wanna do is let go tonight  
Im feeling free tonight it's just for me_

_High heels, just feels  
Like a business dance, makes it hard to dance  
Tight shirt, short skirt  
Just hurt too much worth  
Fake up, make up  
Let me handle the way  
Just I wanna sway  
All I wanna do is kick it with my crew tonight_

_All I do is let go tonight  
Feeling right, I just wanna forget about it  
All I wanna do is let go tonight  
Wind it up without my game  
All I wanna do is get down tonight  
Move around tonight, don't really care about it  
All I wanna do is kick it with my crew tonight_

_All I do is let go tonight  
Feeling right, I just wanna forget about it  
All I wanna do is let go tonight  
Wind it up without my game  
All I wanna do is get down tonight  
Move around tonight, don't really care about it  
All I wanna do is let go tonight  
Im feeling free tonight it's just for me  
(Repeat)  
_

**TWO HOURS LATER  
**

_Never underestimate a girl  
Gets anything she wants  
She's never gonna stop  
(You know it...we know it)  
Never underestimate a girl  
She's always got a plan  
The world is in her hands_

She stopped singing and smiled at the crowd. It was the end of another amazing show.

"Whoa, that was amazing guys. Thanks so much for having me and coming out to see me tonight. I love you all so much and I hope I get the chance to come here again. Goodnight San Francisco!" Brie bid the audience goodbye before running off the stage.

Once backstage, she was handed a towel and a bottle of Evian water. She thanked the crew member and then retreated to her dressing room. She opened the door to the small, but cosy, room and headed straight for the bathroom. She was more than exhausted. Putting on a show was a lot of work.

She had arrived in San Francisco the day before to go over the routines and to do a last time sound check. All night she was practicing and only received a few hours of sleep. The two weeks leading up to the show she had been working her ass off dancing and learning the steps to all the dances for all the songs that she sang. Brie loved to sing, but dancing was also a passion of hers. So she loved doing them both together, it made her both versatile and able to do everything.

She walked out of the bathroom and looked through her clothes to see what she was going to wear for the signing that always came after a show. There was a knock on the door.

"Yeah?" She asked her voice was still uneven from all the dancing and singing.

"Brie, you have twenty minutes until you have to sign." One of the crew members, Jamie, told her. Brie nodded.

"Cool, I'll be out in twenty then." She smiled at him before he closed the door. She quickly wiped off most of the makeup on her face and reapplied it, but lightly. She didn't like to look so made up when she was meeting her fans. She quickly changed from her green, sequined dress to a simple white dress, with some tiger style heels. She kept her hair down but added a thin headband to keep it in place. She applied one last coating of lip gloss before grabbing her water bottle and signing pen.

She opened the door and was met with a large man with blonde gelled up hair.

"Darren!" She exclaimed. "The stage was amazing and the whole composition and production of the show was amazing. Well done!" She said, giving him a small hug. Darren grinned.

"Why thank you very much Miss Hudgens." He thanked the teen pop-star and then walked on, needing to sort the stage out. Brie waved at him before spotting Jamie and running up to him. Once she got there she found an older woman talking to the young man.

"Hey Diana." She greeted her manager. Diana looked up at Brie with her crystal blue eyes and smiled. Brie winced when she noticed that Diane had whitened her teeth again. Those pearly white's could put Simon Cowell out of a job.

"Brie! Darling, that was an amazing show and the turnout was phenomenal." Brie could see the dollar signs in Diane's eyes and chose to ignore them.

"Okay, Brie. You can go out now." Jamie said, pointing towards the door that led to the seat that Brie would occupy for a long time. She nodded and took a deep breath before opening the door and walking out with Diane on her heels.

"...As promised, Brie Hudgens!" Marissa motioned for Gabriella to come forward. The brunette smiled as she walked in and Jamie handed her a microphone.

"Hey guys, it's nice to see you again. I hope I get to meet all of you in this short amount of time!" She said and then handed the microphone back. She walked up to the table and sat down in her seat. She took the lid off her special pen and smiled at the little girl who walked up to her shyly.

"Hello honey. What's your name?" She asked as the little girl placed a photograph of Brie on the table.

"Brianna." She smiled at Brie who grinned back.

"That's my full name too!" She spoke with excitement. Brianna's eyes lit up and Brie knew that she just loved her job.

**ALBUQUERUQUE, NEW MEXICO  
**

The limo turned the corner into the neighbourhood where his friend's house was situated. Inside the limo sat Troy Bolton. He eyes were on the small TV in the limo and his hands on the remote. In his other hand was a can of soda and on his face was his signature smirk.

"_...She was really nice to us and she's absolutely awesome!" _A short, raven haired girl gushed on E!

"_She was also smoking hot." _A blonde boy added. Troy laughed as he switched off the TV.

"Too right about that mate..." He whispered to no one in particular. He was busying himself by watching E! News. Ryan Seacrest was covering the latest Brie Hudgens concert and Troy was more than willing to watch the exotic beauty do her thing on the stage. He made a mental note to book a ticket to her next concert. He knew that it would be a vey... exciting event for him. He looked out of the dark tinted windows and saw that they were almost at the house that would become his home for – possibly – the next year. The limo slowed down and came to a halt in front of the house. Troy spotted Mr Danforth's new BMW parked in the driveway. The limo door opened and Troy stepped out.

He held an umbrella up, as it was raining, and walked towards the door. He lifted his hand to ring the doorbell and then waited. There was a lot of shuffling from behind him, because his luggage was being placed beside him, and a lot of shuffling from the inside.

"Sorry, couldn't find the key." Obviously. Troy rolled his eyes at his never changing best friend. He reached forward and met his friend with a man hug. "Come on in dude." Chad Danforth stepped to a side so that Troy could enter. He looked out and laughed as he saw around four or five men lugging Troy's luggage towards the house. He looked out at the limo and saw another person step out. The door opened and out stepped a young man, around a foot taller than Troy, with dark black hair. He had shades placed over his eyes and a clipboard in his arms. He was talking into his Bluetooth handset. He walked past Chad and into the house without a word. Chad just rolled his eyes and followed the man into the living room where Troy reunited with Chad's parents.

"You look older, and skinnier." Rosa, Chad's mother, looked at Troy and then at the other man who had walked into the room.

"Troy eats perfectly fine Mrs Danforth." The man spoke to her.

"And you are?" She asked him, wondering why an unknown man was sitting in her living room.

"Oh Mrs D, this is Andre, my agent/manager and most recently my babysitter." Troy muttered the last part bitterly.

"I'd like to think of myself as his substitute parent." Andre smiled at Rosa, showing her his pearly whites. Rosa smiled back at him and just turned to face Troy again.

"Well there is no need for him being your 'parent' anymore. You're here and we'll look after you." She smiled at Troy. He was like a second son to her. Chad smiled slightly, in a way Troy was her second son. Troy's actual mother, Lucille, wasn't ever around when he was younger and used to live in Albuquerque. Rosa had practically raised him.

"I'm sure you will." Andre said in a bored tone. "Now Troy isn't here to relax..."

"I thought I was?" Troy interrupted. Andre sighed.

"No, you're here to do some research for your new movie." Troy rolled his eyes.

"I thought that was just for the press." Andre shook his head and Troy groaned. "So you mean that I'm not here because mom thought that I needed a 'reality check', but because you've found another way to torture me. Oh the joy..." Troy sighed and crashed on the nearby couch.

"I have to agree with Troy, he needs a vacation from movies and all those things. He's got enough to think about as it is." Rosa defended Troy. Chad made his way towards Troy and crashed down next to him.

"He's a bit tight isn't he?" Chad whispered to his best friend of seventeen years.

"A bit doesn't cover it." Troy mumbled back.

"I'm sorry Mrs Danforth but you aren't legible to discuss this with me. I think I should have a chat with your husband, he might have the right... outlook on things." Andre said and Chad's mouth dropped open.

"Now he's done it." Troy closed his eyes, clearly annoyed by his manager.

"Excuse me Mr Andre; I am completely legible to talk about Troy with you. I practically raised the boy! Also my husband holds the same views as me because in this family we are both equal partners. So please, leave your medieval views on the doorstep when you enter my home. Or just don't enter at all." Rosa lectured Andre who just sunk back in his chair.

"I think we should let Troy settle in. I'm going to go and take my reasonable views with me to my hotel. Troy I'll meet you tomorrow at eight." Andre nodded at the teen and then walked out.

"Sorry about that Mrs D." Troy apologised for his agent's behaviour. "Andre is very... professional and just thinks he's the bomb. When he is clearly not." It was no secret that Troy disliked his agent as well.

"Don't worry about it Troy, we all have annoying people in our lives." Troy looked up and saw Chad's older sister Liss walk into the room.

"Liss!" He exclaimed and hugged her.

"Well lookie at you Troysie. You're all growed up!" She smiled at him. Troy rolled his eyes.

"Same Liss."

"You know that." Liss grinned and took a seat. "So Troy boy, how's life on the A-list?" She asked.

"It's fun and annoying. It's just exhilarating and frustrating at the same time." Troy answered.

"Okay kids, enough about that, let's go eat. I made all your favourite dishes Troy!" Rosa said and all three of the hungry kids jumped up to go eat.

As Troy sat down to eat with the Danforth family, he was glad that he came back to Albuquerque. Whether it was to do work or not. It felt like he was coming home, and he was actually home. Troy lived in Albuquerque until the age of thirteen when his mother decided that they would go to Hollywood and try to make something out of him. He was upset when he had to leave his home, his school and his friends. But he did move onto better things.

The only thing he found wrong with fame was that he lost all his friends in the process. He stayed in touch with most people and then realised that they just wanted to know him because he was Troy Bolton, the triple threat. Not Troy Bolton an actual boy. So he lost contact with all the phonies and only remained in contact with Chad and his family. Chad was literally like his brother from another mother. And when Troy had had enough of Hollywood, Chad opened his doors for his brother.

The truth, though, was that Troy had lost his way. His private tutor had quit; saying that he was irresponsible and an idiot. That was the fifteenth tutor that Troy had. His mother, for lack of a better word, decided that he needed to be reminded of who he was. So she sent him back to Albuquerque, where it all started. She had also enrolled him at East High school, where she hoped that he would settle down for a year or two. He was going to be staying at Chad's house until the basketball season finished and his father could come over.

The only part Troy hated about leaving New York was the fact that he was now out of a job for a while at least. There were so many good roles going out for handsome and young budding actors like him. He thought he was a shoo in for all the roles and it was a fact that he had an extremely big ego.

But as Troy sat down and ate dinner with the Danforth's, he couldn't imagine what exactly Albuquerque had in store for him.

**SAN FRANCISCO  
**

Brie stepped out of the concert hall with her Louis Vuitton bag and placed her Prada shades over her eyes. She waved out at her fans as she walked down the street with a group of bodyguards. Diane was at her side as she signed some last minute autographs.

"Thanks you guys." Brie called out and gave the crowd another wave before she got into the black SUV that was waiting for her. "Phew. That was amazing." She said once the car drove off.

"As always." Diane added. Brie rolled her eyes at her manager's tone of voice.

"Yeah, because it's always amazing." Brie replied. She looked out of the window at the streets of San Francisco. "Make sure to book another concert here soon." Brie told her manager.

"Brie, you can't do another concert here yet. You've got school for the next few months and then you're going to leave early to do your tour of America. Then you can play there again. It's all mapped out sweetheart. You just concentrate on your singing." Brie rolled her eyes again. As if she could think about anything else but singing.

"Okay, I'm going to come with you to Albuquerque because I've got another meeting down there and I've got to sort some things out for your next performance." Brie just nodded and rested her head against the window. Sometimes her manager was annoying. "And you did great out there kiddo. Kudos to you." Then again. Sometimes Diane was awesome.

**AT THE AIRPORT  
**

Brie stepped out of the cab, only to be mobbed by the paparazzi.

"Brie!"

"Is it true that you and Joe Jonas are hooking up?"

"What do you think about Britney's breakdown?

"I heard you were going to be in a movie with Troy Bolton. Can you confirm this?"

"Look to your right Baby B!"

Brie just looked down and walked past them until she made it safely into the airport. Diane followed her.

"God, they're like animals." She shuddered. Brie nodded in agreement. The paparazzi were the greatest negative point of being famous. But she would endure that any day if it meant that she could sing to an audience. Some airport staff met them and then followed them as they made their way towards the right terminal. Brie sighed, feeling glad that she was going home.

**ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO  
**

Brie walked out of the Albuquerque airport a few hours later. She smiled as she breathed in the Albuquerque air. She was home. Diane and some men carrying their luggage followed her out and towards the Porsche that was waiting for them.

"Looks like Dad's here." Brie muttered. They walked up to the car and Brie grinned as her father stepped out of the car. "Hey Papi." She greeted her father with a hug. Samuel Baylor helped the multiple number of men load the few bags into the car.

"Okay Brie, this is where I say goodbye." Diane said, gesturing towards her own car, which was of course a limo. She gave Brie a small hug before making her way over to the limo.

"Let's go honey." Samuel opened the door for his daughter and she sat in the car. He made his way over to the driver's side and sat down. Brie smiled, anxious to get home.

**THE BAYLOR-MONTEZ HOUSEHOLD  
**

"_...Brie Hudgens also had an amazing night. She performed in San Francisco and the audience claimed that it was the most exciting concerts they've EVER been to. Miss Hudgens has definitely left her mark. Let's go to see what some people thought of the concert." _

"_It was absolutely amazing and she is a beautiful, beautiful girl. I'm so glad I'm rich! Otherwise I could never have jetted it over, just to watch her! I love Brie Hudgens. She's my role model."_

"Ma, guess who just complimented Brie." Gina Montez-Baylor walked into the living room and sat down next to her step-son.

"Sharpay Evans." Zeke, her seventeen year old son, replied.

"You mean the one you like?" Gina asked with an eyebrow raised. Zeke rolled his eyes.

"That was a month ago Ma, will you never let me forget it?" He asked her. Gina laughed and patted his head.

"I'm sorry baby." She said. The mother and son looked up at the time. "They should be here any minute now." Gina said. At that moment the front door opened and some shuffling could be heard.

"Honey! We're home!" Gina rolled her eyes at her husband's choice of words. After a few seconds, Samuel entered the room.

"Where's my baby girl?" Gina asked. Samuel pointed towards the ceiling.

"She's exhausted. She wanted to get some rest." Gina nodded and leaned into her husband as he sat down next to her. Zeke stood up.

"Okay, time for the unscarred teen to leave." He announced and ran out of the room. He walked up the stairs and stopped when he spotted his sister. "Good job with the concert sis." He gave her a thumbs up and then walked into his own room. Brie smiled walked down the hallway. She loved her step-brother like he was her own brother. She stopped in front of the last door at the end of the hallway and took out her set of keys. She picked out the key with the initials BH written on it and placed it in the lock. She turned the key and entered the room devoted to Brie. The room was coloured in red and white paint with multiple frames on the walls. All of Brie's accomplishments and awards were displayed in the room. As well as her pop star clothes and everything that was Brie.

She took off her white dress and exchanged it with a simple white tank top and some boy shorts. She sat down at the dresser and removed the makeup on her face. After using four wipes, it came off and she could see her own complexion then. She then removed the green contacts, revealing a pair of honey coloured eyes. She tied up her hair and smiled.

She was now plain old seventeen year old Gabriella Montez.

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**Soooo, what did you think?**

**Love it?**

**Like it?**

**Hate it?**

**Well whatever your opinion is, please do tell me, I really want to know what everyone thinks of this re-write!**

**xoxo-catz-eyez-xoxo  
**


	2. Secret Smiles

**Sooo, I decided to post up the second chapter straight after the first. So, please do tell me what you think. I really want some good feedback.**

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**Best of Both Worlds**

**Chapter Two**

**Secret Smiles**

Zeke's new Jeep Wrangler pulled up in the school parking lot. Gabriella was sitting shot gun.

"Thanks for the ride." She thanked her brother. Zeke nodded.

"No problem Ella, everyone wants to be seen in this car." He smiled, running his hands over the steering wheel. Gabriella rolled her eyes, she loved her brother, but sometimes he was a dork. She gathered her books and got out of the jeep. She looked up at the clear sky and smiled, it was just another beautiful day in Albuquerque. This was the reason why she loved the fact that her secret was just that, a secret. If the whole world knew who she was then she wouldn't be able to just walk the streets calmly without any worry.

"Later Z" She bid her brother goodbye and began her walk up to the school. Normally she would walk to school but the concert last night gave her jet lag and she couldn't be bothered to walk. She could've taken the day off, but then she would be stuck at home just looking out at the beautiful weather and wishing that she had gone to school.

So here she was, at East High School. She walked into the front entrance and smiled. It was like walking into a spirit factory. The school was painted in red and white, the school colours. There was also an image of a Wildcat posted everywhere. That was the school mascot. The Wildcats were the school's basketball team and they were unbeatable. So Gabriella was proud when she said that her brother was on the team.

"Gab!" Gabriella's thoughts were interrupted as she heard a familiar voice call her name. She turned around, letting her curls whirl through the air until they landed back on her shoulder. She spotted one of her best friends jogging over to her.

"Hey Ry" She greeted him with a bear hug. Ryan Evans pulled away and swung his arm over her shoulders as they walked to her locker.

"So, we have to go and grab our new schedules today. That should be fun." Ryan muttered as they walked past all the white lockers. Gabriella grinned as they stopped in front of her locker.

"Yup, it's always an exciting experience." She joked back. Ryan grinned and leaned on the locker next to hers as she dialled in her locker number. She opened the small door revealing lots of pictures and notes stuck inside.

"You've still got that picture?" Ryan said pointing to one of Ryan, Taylor and Gabriella when they were small. Gabriella laughed, touching the picture with her index finger.

"It's cute. I love it." She said, it reminded her of their amazing friendship. They were inseparable when they were small. Gabriella looked away from the picture and placed some books into her locker. Ryan began drumming his fingers on the lockers and Gabriella knew that he was getting restless. "Come on then..." She said, closing her locker door and pulling him along with her.

It was their senior year at East High, and they were both looking forward to it. They had all the same classes but Ryan was exceeding in the Arts whilst Gabriella exceeded in her writing. But the pair had a whole year of dance classes to bond in since Ryan had practically begged Gabriella to join the dance class as well. The pair reached the office and smiled up at the secretary.

"Hey Miss Keaton" Ryan flashed the young blonde receptionist one of his million dollar smiles. Miss Keaton shook her head and smiled back. She searched through a large pile of papers before handing two of them to Ryan. "Cheers." Ryan thanked her with a little wink. Miss Keaton blushed slightly and looked away. Gabriella held back her laughter and smacked Ryan on his arm as they walked away.

"You're insanely unbelievable." She said, taking her schedule off him. Ryan just shrugged and laughed at her comment.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I heard you were mind-blowing at the concert last night." Ryan whispered to his friend.

"Cheers." She said with a wink, earning a laugh from Ryan at her attempt of imitating him.

"Gabriella! Ryan!" Taylor McKessie ran up to her friends, her papers in her hands. She ran and grabbed both of them in a huge hug. Gabriella and Ryan laughed as they hugged her back.

"I sure missed those." Gabriella said as Taylor let go. Taylor smiled, her dark chocolate eyes twinkling. Gabriella looked at her other best friend, seeing that she had changed over the summer. Taylor was – in other words – a geek. But she was beautiful; she had long, wavy jet black hair that covered her dark skin stopping at her shoulders. Gabriella had also noticed that her friend had lost a lot of weight. This was due to Taylor's major exercise system and dance classes. Yes she too was a dance freak. Taylor was also in her senior year, specialising in science and math based subjects.

"So did I, and by the way you were totally fabulous last night." Taylor cried, yes she also knew about Gabriella's other half. Gabriella grinned glad that her friends loved her performance.

"Thanks Tay. It was totally awesome from where I was standing as well. The crowd was brilliant and I felt as if I was on top of the world!" Gabriella gushed. She wasn't one to brag but last night was just too great. "Plus those dance lessons paid off. My choreographer, James, was amazed at how quickly I picked up the steps. So thank you Ry for being such a pest!" Gabriella said and hugged her best boy friend.

"You're welcome Gabs, and I'll let the pest comment go…for now." Ryan said and hugged her back. Gabriella just grinned and linked arms with Taylor. She dragged her friends with her down the corridor, smiling at all the people they knew.

"Oh look who it is, the social rejects of dance!" The three friends looked around to see who was talking. They rolled their eyes as they spotted one immensely annoying blonde.

"Sharpay" Taylor spoke with venom in her voice. Sharpay Evans was the most infuriating, self-obsessed, boy-crazed girl at East High. She was also Ryan's twin sister; yes it's hard to believe but it's true. The rest of the students never quite grasped the concept of that fact either. What with him being so nice and her being the Queen of all that is mean. It was hard to imagine that they were even related.

What added to that was the fact that the twins themselves hated each other. They loathed the fact that they looked quite similar and had the same blood running through their veins. Their parents had divorced a couple of years ago, thus separating the twins and creating a distance between the two. They were fighting a battle that wasn't even theirs. But explaining this to them was a hard job.

Sharpay was the more outgoing of the two. She wasn't into dance at all like her brother, instead she specialised in the Art of acting and singing. Maybe that was because she couldn't move to the beat like her brother. She was also surprisingly good at History. Sharpay was, on the first sighting, an attractive girl. She had long, flowing blonde hair that reached her shoulders; it was always styled and sometimes she added in different coloured extensions. She was a little of the skinny side, but she had tanned skin to go with it. Her eyes were a sparkling brown and were mainly covered by her fringe. She had small, but quite plump lips that were always glossy and her face had a permanent smirk plastered across it. To the outside world she was seen as a model and role model, but to the students of East High, she was just the Ice Princess.

"This is coming from the girl who can't even dance the hokey pokey." Gabriella defended herself and her friends. Sharpay glared at the brunette. "Don't dish out what you can't take." Gabriella smiled angelically.

"That's rich coming from Geeky Gabi and her two pathetic minions, Daft Ducky and Wimpy Whiz." Sharpay replied with a smirk on her face. Gabriella automatically thrust her arms out to stop her friends from lunging at Sharpay. The blonde backed away a few steps, making Gabriella scoff.

"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but name calling will never hurt me." Gabriella said in a sing-song voice. "You know that stupid excuse of an insulting nickname doesn't hurt me. It actually makes me laugh." Gabriella backed up her words by laughing. 'Geeky Gabi' was a term given to her when people realised that she was smarter than them. It soon disappeared when people realised that she was Zeke Baylor's sister. Having a brother on the basketball team was brilliant.

"Well you might be immune to name calling, but they sure as hell aren't." Sharpay pointed to Gabriella's two quiet friends. 'Daft Ducky' was actually Sharpay's fault. Ducky was what Ryan's mother called him, in the most loving tone ever. But obviously Sharpay had to twist that and embarrass Ryan at school. Soon enough people got over it when they found something new. Sharpay was the only one who never got tired of using it. 'Wimpy Whiz' was also another nickname and just like the other two, it was forgotten.

"You know what _princess _I suggest you keep those collagen injected lips closed before I whack you and they go back to their normal size!" Gabriella raised her fist and Sharpay took another step back. She raised a hand to her lips making Taylor let out a snort.

"I always knew they were too big for her face." She muttered, not aiming for Sharpay to hear but the blonde heard it anyway. She glared at Taylor before Ryan stepped in front of her.

"Just get lost Sharpay, you're clearly not wanted here." Ryan stated simply, Sharpay raised an eyebrow at her brother.

"Why should I _brother_?" She asked with the added sarcasm. Ryan answered her with a glare.

"I may be your bother, but I do wish I wasn't." Ryan whispered in a low, cold voice. Gabriella and Taylor looked at each other and then at Ryan with concern. Gabriella placed her hand on Ryan's shoulder.

"She's not worth the stress Ry." Gabriella spoke softly and Sharpay let out a loud laugh.

"Aww Ry has some mates to stand up for him and look after him. How freaking adorable."

"Yeah, how adorable" A small girl stepped out from behind Sharpay. Gabriella rolled her eyes. Great, Kelsi Neilson was here to join the party. She was the oh-so faithful minion, sidekick, lackey or whatever you wanted to call it. She was just the added annoyance.

She hadn't always been so... Sharpay-ish. She was once a shy, quiet girl only at school to educate herself in hope of creating a career for herself. But Sharpay took her under her – horrible – wing and put a stop to her dreams and innocence. Kelsi was now Sharpay number two. The jester in Sharpay's court.

Kelsi was really petite and much shorter than Sharpay. Her hair was cut short and a rich brown with wild curly locks. Her hair was always covered by a branded hat/cap that was also stylish and matched her outfit. She had an average figure, not too skinny and not too fat. Plus Sharpay had her on a diet so she wouldn't put any weight on. Kelsi had also worn glasses once upon a time, but as always Sharpay put an end to that issue. Now Kelsi wore clear contacts showing the world her sky blue eyes and her smoky eye make up only enhanced the effect of her eyes.

"We are so out!" Sharpay said clicking her fingers. Kelsi clicked her fingers as well and the two walked away. Gabriella rolled her eyes and resumed walking with her friends. They walked another few feet before they were stopped again.

"Guys, guess what!" Gabriella looked up to see Martha Cox running up to them, looking awfully excited.

"What?" Taylor asked. Martha stopped before them and took a deep breath.

"Troy is back in Albuquerque! He arrived at Chad's house yesterday and he's coming to school today!" Martha exclaimed. Gabriella looked confused and looked at Ryan who looked at Taylor with a smirk on his face.

"Chad's house eh? Did you happen to see him there then?" Ryan nudged Taylor. "If he stays there, then that means that he'll be arriving with Chad. What time does Chad arrive at school Taylor?" Gabriella bit her lip, stifling back her laughter as Taylor turned a bright shade of red.

"Yup, I guess so." Martha answered Ryan's question. "But can you believe it? Troy Bolton! He moved away with aspirations to become and actor..." Martha was about to recite Troy's biography, which she had no doubt memorised, when Gabriella cut her off.

"Martha did you say Troy Bolton?" Gabriella asked and the frizzy hair senior nodded in response.

"Yup, THE Troy Bolton in our school, walking these very halls...." Martha's voice trailed off as she walked away. Ryan and Taylor turned to face Gabriella.

"I bumped into him when I attended the Sundance Festival. He's a bit of a jerk." Gabriella finished. Ryan just shrugged.

"He was okay when he was here. But fame doesn't do anyone any good." Ryan stopped when Gabriella glared at him. "Except for Brie of course. She's as humble as ever and by far my favourite." He grinned.

"Nice save." Gabriella rolled her eyes.

"Well, Troy was _always_ pleasant towards me." Taylor spoke quietly. Ryan snorted.

"Sh'yeah, cause he knew that you were madly in love with his best friend." Ryan teased and Gabriella couldn't help but burst out in a fit of giggles. "So Tay, when you gonna put the moves on him?" Ryan carried on, wiggling his eyebrows at the blushing senior.

"Shut up." She said in a muffled voice.

"Ooh defensive. You must be in love with him Troy." Gabriella chimed in, using one of her favourite lines from Step Up. Taylor just shrugged and Ryan laughed.

"Okay ladies, as much as I do love this topic, I need to get going know. It's homeroom time." He said, looking down at his paper. Gabriella mimicked his actions and groaned when she looked at hers.

"I got the crazy D again! Someone please help me!" She threw her hands in the air for dramatic effect. "Why do you hate me so much?" She asked the ceiling. Ryan and Taylor looked up and rolled their eyes at Gabriella's behaviour.

"That just proved that you do belong in crazy D's class." Ryan snickered but stopped when he met Gabriella's glare. "Hey!" He stepped back with his hands in front of him as Gabriella tried to hit him. "It's not my fault okay. Tay and I have really got to go. Mr Thompson and the sane people are waiting for us." Ryan grabbed Taylor and dragged her along with him as he bolted away from Gabriella.

"By Gabs!" Taylor called out. Gabriella gave her a little wave and groaned.

"Why me! I am so going to hate this semester." She muttered as she began to make her way towards her homeroom. Whilst she was walking, she decided to take out her iPod; she needed something to get her through those dreaded thirty minutes. She looked though her bag and when she located her iPod, she glanced up. By that time she was too late and had already dropped to the floor.

"Ow!" She complained as she sat up. She looked up to see which idiot had collided with her and rolled her eyes when she saw the face of the devil. Literally.

"You should really watch where you're going." Okay, so he wasn't the devil. But Troy Bolton was close enough to being the devil, maybe he was the nephew of the devil. Gabriella shook her head of her thoughts and glared at Troy.

"Same goes to you..." She scowled as she spoke. She looked around and saw that all her papers had scattered all over the floor. She looked up at Troy, only to find that he was preoccupied with some girl.

"You look amazing Troy..." The redhead spoke to him in a voice she imagined was seductive. Gabriella rolled her eyes at Troy as he winked at the redhead.

"Yeah Troy, you're just too amazing for words." Gabriella spoke with heavy sarcasm. The redhead walked away and Troy faced Gabriella with a look on his face that was partially annoyed and partially amused.

"Thanks. So... you just gonna sit there all day? Or are you planning to get up any day soon?" Has asked her. From where she was on the floor, and where he was standing over her. Troy couldn't help but notice that she was, in other words, hot. She was wearing an orange top which was slightly low cut, alongside a denim miniskirt. Troy grinned as he admired her legs from where he was standing. Gabriella rolled her eyes at his behaviour and stood up, bending down to wipe the dirt off her clothes.

"Thanks for helping me up." She said her sarcasm was as clear as glass. Troy just shrugged whilst noticing that she wasn't wearing any makeup and that her hair acted like a frame for her face. As if she was a great piece of painting.

"No problem." He said with a smirk. "All in a day's work." He added. Gabriella just gave him a look before gathering her papers.

"Yeah you're a regular Prince Charming." She scoffed. She sauntered past Troy and he just glared at her whilst enjoying her anger as well. He watched her with a smirk as she walked away, her hips swaying to some inaudible beat.

"Yo Troy!" The brunette snapped out of his trance and looked around and saw Chad walking up to him with two papers in one hand and a... picture of Troy in the other? "Your papers... oh and Miss Keaton wants an autograph for her daughter. I didn't even know she was married, let alone have a daughter. She looks totally awesome though. Her husband is a lucky, lucky man." Chad said as he held out the picture for Troy to sign. Troy grinned and pulled out a black marker.

"There you go." He handed the signed picture back to Chad. He waited as Chad went and delivered the autograph to Miss Keaton.

"Dude, I so love you." Chad came back out a few seconds later with lipstick on his cheeks. "This is something to boast about in the locker rooms." Chad grinned, pointing at it. Troy just shook his head and laughed at his best friend.

"So where to man?" Troy asked as Chad scanned over their papers.

"To the Darbus' Lair!" Chad shot his fist into the air and Troy let out a groan.

"Great, first day back and I have Darbus first thing. It gets better... I have to see her face every day in the morning!" Troy exclaimed. "Let's just hope she got over Shakespeare." Troy prayed. Chad shot him a look. "Yeah I know fat chance of that happening." Chad nodded as they made their way towards their homeroom. There was a moment of silence as all eyes landed on Troy. He smiled and waved, as well as winking at a couple of girls.

"Ah Mr Danforth and oh Mr Bolton how nice to have you back!" Ms Darbus greeted Troy with a handshake.

"Why thank you Ms Darbus, it's great to be back." Troy said as he searched for an empty seat. There was one next to Chad. Troy walked over and occupied the seat.

"So when is she going to start going on about drama?" Troy asked. Chad looked up at the clock.

"5…4…3…2…1…" Chad counted down the seconds. And just as he said one Ms Darbus began to talk and the whole class put some headphones in their ears or started quiet conversations of their own. Surprisingly Ms Darbus was too wrapped up in her lecture to notice this. Troy was impressed.

"Nice." He said. Chad just grinned.

"Not mine. G came up with it. She's cool like that." Chad said, turning to face the brunette who was sitting in the seat next to him. Troy watched as her face broke out into a smiled as she spotted Chad. Then she saw Troy and frowned. Troy smirked; it was hot girl from the hallway.

"So C, how were the Bahamas?" Gabriella asked her bushy haired friend. Chad grinned.

"Awesome." He replied. Gabriella laughed to herself.

"Yeah and I see that your vocabulary still consists of one adjective." She said, referring to his use of the word 'awesome'.

"Gabriella here is my dictionary that walks." Chad said, turning to face Troy. Troy nodded, trying not to look too bothered. So the hot girl had a name. Gabriella rolled her eyes at the sight of the blue eyed actor. First of all she had Ms Darbus for yet another year and secondly she had to spend that time with Troy Bolton as well. The universe really did hate her. "G, this is Troy Bolton." Chad introduced the pair.

"Yeah I know who he is. He is also impolite and, to put it nicely, a jerk." Troy glared at her as she spoke those few words.

"I don't get paid to be polite and nice." He said. Gabriella shot him a look.

"Its school, you don't get paid to do anything." She said smartly. Chad laughed at the pair.

"I see that you two have already met." He said. All he heard after that were murmurs of yes and unfortunately from both parties. Gabriella looked down at her notebook. She was currently in the middle of writing a new song. Usually her songs were written by someone else, but she wanted to have a say in some songs. This one was about her growing up. She didn't want it to mirror another song from her album '_B_', called '_Drive_'. That was about searching for answers and going after what you want. This was about shedding the old her and embracing the new her.

"What you writing?" Chad asked. Gabriella closed her notebook.

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing." She said calmly. Her mind was blank. Troy looked at her whilst she was thinking. He was wondering why she hadn't fallen head over heels for him. Usually that's all that girls did. But she was different. He stared at her until she looked up at him with an annoyed expression on her face.

"Do you know that it's rude to stare?" Troy just carried on staring at her. Gabriella rolled her eyes and stood up. She gathered her belongings and walked to the back of the class. Troy's eyes were glued to her the whole time. "What?" She demanded.

"Nothing." Troy said with a shrug and then turned to one of the many girls who were demanding his attention.

Gabriella rolled her eyes again. This was going to be a long year.

**AFTER HOMEROOM**

Gabriella rushed out of the room as soon as the bell rang. Her bag was hanging off her shoulder and her phone was placed in her hands. She laughed to herself as she read Ryan's texts about teasing Taylor and Taylor's texts about how frustrating Ryan was. Gabriella almost died of laughter when Taylor asked what Chad was wearing that day. Whilst Gabriella laughed and texted, Chad crept up behind her.

"G!" He yelled in her ear, causing her to jump. Gabriella placed a hand on her heart and turned around to face her Chad. Her eyes narrowed at her friend.

"Chad Michael Danforth don't you dare do that again!" She screeched. Chad put his hands up in surrender and took two steps back.

"Relax G, no need to use the full name card." He said. Gabriella sighed and managed to give him a small smile.

"So what did you want?" She asked.

"Urm I just wanted to ask if you're still on for tutoring me in free period." He asked. Gabriella thought for a moment.

"Yup…oh actually I can't. Ryan wants me to come watch his audition. So I'll meet you after school." Gabriella informed Chad. He nodded.

"Great, Joey's?" Chad asked. Gabriella nodded and then spotted Ryan.

"Okay, see you then Chad. Bye Troy." Gabriella said to Troy who was quietly listening to every word they said. Troy just gave her a faint bye as she walked over to Ryan. Troy watched the two hug and walk off, arms linked.

"Is that her boyfriend?" Troy asked out of curiosity. Chad shook his head.

"Nah, Ryan and G are like best mates. Along with Tay." Chad smiled at the mention of her name.

"Tay?" Troy asked. Chad sighed.

"Taylor McKessie. The most wonderful girl in the world. Well in my world anyway." Chad said. Troy nodded.

"Oh right. The Taylor you always go on and on and on about." Troy said. Chad rolled his eyes.

"Whatever mate, she's worth every word." Chad said as he led Troy down the corridor. "So Chemistry room 501." Chad said leading Toy into a lab. Troy sat down and watched as many girls tried to grab the seats behind him. In the end two lucky girls got them and didn't intend on giving them up.

"Hey Troy." The blonde one waved her fingers at him and smiled. Troy looked at her and recognised her.

"You were at the Brie Hudgens concert last night, right? I remember seeing you on E!" Troy said. Sharpay nodded vigorously.

"Sharpay." She smiled and held out her hand. Troy took it and she scooted closer to him. Troy smiled as she gazed into his deep blue eyes. "Your eyes are gorgeous." She said faintly. Troy smirked; no woman could resist the Bolton eyes.

"They're not the best part though." He said with a wink. Sharpay giggled lightly and Troy flashed his million dollar smile. He knew that coming back to East High would be great.

**FREE PERIOD**

"That was brilliant Ry! You were ten times better than Sharpay!" Gabriella gushed as she walked out of the theatre with Ryan in tow. She had just seen Ryan's audition and Gabriella knew that Ms Darbus thought that Ryan was better than Sharpay. Ryan just blushed at her compliments as they walked through the hallways.

"I wasn't _that_ good Gab, just a little better than normal." Ryan said with a casual shrug of his shoulders. But Gabriella knew Ryan better than anyone; she knew he was jumping up and down on the inside. She also knew that Ryan was way too modest sometimes.

"Whatever Ry, you were better than the best and that's coming from Gabriella Montez and Brie Hudgens." Gabriella made sure to whisper the last part. Ryan grinned. "So where was Tay?" Gabriella asked about their third friend.

"Oh, she just had to go and watch Chad play basketball." Ryan smirked. "He invited her especially." Gabriella giggled as Ryan winked at her

"You should be glad that she turned you down for Chad and not Troy." Gabriella said, hoping that that was somewhat reassuring.

"That's a good point. I'd rather be stood up for Chad than for all-star Troy Bolton." He said as Gabriella gave him a small hug. She let go as Ryan opened the door and gestured for her to go first. "Ladies first." He said politely. Gabriella smiled.

"Why thank you Mr Evans." She thanked him in a posh British accent. Ryan laughed as he followed her in unaware of the fact that Troy was watching them from afar.

"Dude, they should just get together, I mean they act like a couple anyway." He turned to tell Chad who looked like he was going to burst with annoyance.

"Dude, get over it. They're JUST friends. Sheesh." Chad practically yelled at his best friend. Troy stepped back and gave Chad a look. In response Chad closed his eyes and took a deep breath – another technique Gabriella had taught him – he grabbed the basketball and threw it into the hoop and gave a satisfied grin to Troy.

"Bet I can get it half way." Troy said with a shrug, he was feeling so sure of himself. Chad gave him a look.

"Pfft, yeah right. But dude…you are so on, 40 bucks." He said as he watched Troy retrieve the ball. Troy snuck a glance at Gabriella and Ryan who had just reached Taylor out in the bleachers.

"Hey Gab, Ry how was the audition?" Taylor asked as the pair sat down next to her. Gabriella turned to face Taylor.

"It was wicked Tay, Ry here smoked 'em all!" Gabriella said and punched her fist into the air. She looked over at Ryan and beamed up at him. Taylor looked down, feeling a little left out, even though it was her own fault.

"Oh right." She spoke quietly. Ryan and Gabriella noticed the look on her face and gave each other a look. Ryan stood up and walked around to place an arm around the African-American's shoulders. .

"Don't feel bad that you weren't there, I mean what kind of friend would I be if I made you miss the practise Chad invited you to? I mean you two are practically betrothed so y'no…" That was all Ryan was able to say before Taylor slapped him on the head. Ryan pushed her and she fell off, all that was seen then was Ryan and Taylor running after each other around the school. Gabriella looked at her friends and just burst into another fit of laughter. She had been doing a lot of that throughout the day.

"Yo G!" She stopped laughing and looked over at the court. Chad was holding up his hand and calling her over. Gabriella left her bag on the steps and ran down towards the court.

"Yeah?" She asked once she reached the boys.

"Troy here thinks he can shoot from halfway court. I bet him a hundred bucks." Chad said pointing to the nicely toned teen. Gabriella couldn't help but notice how his muscles flexed as he dribbled the ball. She snapped out of her trance and snorted.

"Him? Yeah right. C, Troy boy here thinks he can do anything." Gabriella said, Chad just laughed and Troy just…well he just glared at her.

"At least I can play basketball. I bet you can't even get the ball into the basket, let alone shoot halfway court." Troy said as he bounced the ball around, he thought that Gabriella was smoking hot but he didn't like her attitude. Okay he just didn't like the fact that she wasn't trying to get him to make out with her. Now it was Gabriella's turn to glare.

"Actually I can play; I just don't put the time and effort into it. I, unlike you, have better things to do." Gabriella said and turned to walk back up the steps. Troy watched as she sat down and pulled out her notebook and began to write. After snapping out of his trance, Troy turned to face Chad with a questioning look on his face.

"What? She can play." Chad said seriously. Troy raised an eyebrow. "I'm serious dude, but G loves to dance more than playing b ball." He stated. Troy just nodded, not really interested in the subject. He shook all the thoughts about Gabriella away and concentrated on his shot. He walked halfway court and relaxed. "You're not gonna make it!" Chad said from the sidelines.

Troy just gave him a glance before looking at the hoop. He narrowed his eyes and stuck his tongue out. Gabriella giggled a little at his face. If she had a camera that was completely precise then she would've taken a photo. Troy took in a deep breath before throwing the basketball into the air. Chad followed the orange ball with his brown eyes, open and wide. Gabriella dropped her notebook and stood up; her eyes were also on the ball. It was as if the world was going in slow motion.

Troy closed his eyes and when he opened them, he was happy to see that the ball had gone in. Troy pumped his fist in the air and jumped up with a whoop! Chad groaned and covered his face with his hands. He was never going to hear the end of this. Troy looked up at Gabriella who was smiling and pointed at the net and then at her. Despite herself, she blushed and just sat down again.

"Swish; swish." Troy muttered as he walked up to Chad to collect his winnings. He looked up at the brunette again and gave her a million dollar smile. Gabriella just looked away, but secretly returned the smile.

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**=S**

**What do you think?**

**xoxo-catz-eyez-xoxo  
**


	3. Dreams & Changes

**Okay so not too much feedback on them two chapters, but they got quite a lot of hits. No worries, at least I know that people are reading this!**

**The story follows the same pattern as before, but it's just more detailed, so for those of you that have read this story before, it's just a refresher I guess, a more developed one.**

**I forgot to put a disclaimer in the first chapter sooo....**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones I've made up! I partially own the plot, because it was inspired by Hannah Montana, so half the plot is owned by Disney! I don't own any of the songs or singers mentioned. I basically own nothing lol.**

**Anyway enjoy...**

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**Best of Both Worlds**

**Chapter Three**

**Dreams and Changes**

_Wake Up Wake Up  
On a Saturday night  
Could be New York  
Maybe Hollywood and Vine  
London, Paris maybe Tokyo  
There's something going on anywhere I go  
Tonight  
Tonight  
Yeah, tonight_

Gabriella groaned as her alarm clock rang. She opened her eyes unwillingly and pressed the snooze button, wanting to get more sleep.

_Wake Up Wake Up  
On a Saturday night  
Could be New York  
Maybe Hollywood and Vine  
London, Paris maybe Tokyo  
There's something going on anywhere I go  
Tonight  
Tonight  
Yeah, tonight_

She let out another frustrated groan and this time she switched the alarm clock off. She opened her eyes and sat up in her bed, letting out a huge yawn in the process. One of her hands instantly went on her mouth and the other was stretched in the air. Gabriella shook her head, presumably to gather her thoughts, and jumped out of bed. It was, unfortunately, Wednesday which was another school day.

Gabriella had taken the previous day off to go to Santa Fe where she performed at a concert with the sister duo Aly & AJ. It was her first time meeting the duo and she loved them. They were gorgeous, talented and definitely not diva's. Gabriella felt extremely blessed to be sharing a stage with such talent. Obviously she had their CD _Insomniatic_ and she even got them to sign it! Looking back at that moment now, she thought she acted like a crazed fan but every star got star struck every now and again. Gabriella smiled as she recalled the memories of singing that song on stage with Aly & AJ. It was definitely one of Brie's most memorable moments.

_**BACKSTAGE AT THE CONCERT**_

_Brie paced her dressing room floor as she listened to the hustle and bustle of the crew backstage. She paced, then stopped, shuffled her feet and then fiddled with her fingers. Then she resumed pacing again. This was now becoming somewhat of a routine for her. _

_The night had been going great, so far. She had gotten up on stage and sung 'Baby Come Back', 'Let Go' and the cover track 'Colours of the Wind' for Pocahontas. The crowd was – as always – really enthusiastic and just really supportive. Then she left the stage and the pop duo Aly & AJ stole the show with their hits 'the Potential Breakup Song' and 'Chemical's React'. Brie had enjoyed the performance from backstage and loved every moment of it._

_Now she was pacing because she was about to join Aly & AJ on the stage! She looked down at her feet and decided that it was time to stop pacing and actually do something better to kill time. She ran over to the dresser and picked up her iPhone. She didn't bother searching through her contacts since she knew the number off by heart anyway._

"_Hello." Brie sighed with relief as she heard his voice._

"_Hey it's me." She answered and the heard him chuckled at the other end._

"_Before-show jitters?" He asked and Brie nodded even though she knew that he couldn't see her. He sighed and she fell down onto one of the bean bags in her dressing room. "Look B, you're one of the most wanted and most liked pop star's of today! All your fans are counting on you and you need to act upon that. When you get onto that stage, your nerves will vanish instantly!" He gave her one of his motivation speeches. "... If that doesn't work then you can always imagine the audience in their underwear." He added suggestively. Brie giggled despite her nerves. "There she goes." He said as he always did when he made her laugh._

"_Joe you're completely right. I should embrace the nerves and not be afraid of them. I am Brie Hudgens!" She motivated herself and yes, she was talking to Joe Jonas of the Jonas Brothers. Scream; yell; faint! Is what most girls would do but to Brie Joe was her, well her close friend. They had bumped into each other at a charity event the year Brie started out in the music industry. He took her under his wing and helped her to calm her nerves and actually talk to other stars and such. At first the press and the public got excited, they thought that they were witnessing the beginning of 'Joanna' (Brianna and Joe's names mashed together). But then they realised that the pair acted more like brother and sister._

"_I'm __always__ right B." Joe boasted making Brie laugh again._

"_Yeah...yeah...yeah." Brie dismissed his sentence with a wave of her hand._

"_What d'you mean Miss Brie..." Joe sounded distracted. "Listen B, I have to go, Nicky boy needs his big brother." He teased his little brother. Sure enough Brie could hear a whinging Nick whinging in the background._

"_Tell him that it's her loss and he should just move on. Thanks Joe. Bye." She thanked him before hanging up. She sat on her bean bag for a moment and thought about the Jonas Brothers. After meeting Joe, she had to meet Kevin and Nick as well._

_Paul Kevin Jonas Jr aka Kevin was the eldest of the three brothers. He played the lead guitar and even taught Brie some chords. He also provided the background vocals for the group. Second in tow was Mr Joseph Adam Jonas aka Joe. He was the second eldest, a few years older than Brie herself, and he was the lead vocalist alongside playing the guitar and tambourine as well. Then the last of the threesome band was Nicholas Jerry Jonas aka Nick. He was the lead vocalist and played the guitar and drums as well. Nick also wrote most of the songs the group sang. _

_But there was also a 'Bonus Jonas' aka Frankie Jonas. He wasn't in the group, bless him, but his older brothers always included him in everything else they did. Brie loved them all to bits, but maybe she loved Joe a little bit more than the rest. They were like family to her and Brie loved her family. _

_Anyway Brie could just imagine Nick whining about his latest girlfriend and how he fell too hard for her and she didn't want to be with him anymore. The guy had a serious issue of low self-esteem and as for all the girls who reject him – they're just stupid. I mean, he is Nick Jonas after all, the cute, sensitive one. Brie knew that she didn't have to worry about him though, because Joe could lift Nick's move since he had a way with words. _

_Brie's thoughts were interrupted by a knock on her door. It opened and Ciara, one of the crew members, stuck her head around the door. "You're on in five minutes." She told the pop star. Brie nodded and jumped up. She checked her appearance one last time. After just adding one more layer of gloss, she walked out of her dressing room and ran over to the side of the stage. Aly & AJ were already there. _

"_Good luck Brie." AJ whispered. Brie nodded and smiled as if she were returning the comment. AJ nodded in understanding. All three females held hands as they waited for Lucas, the presenter to call their names._

"_How does everyone like the concert so far?" Lucas asked the audience. They all yelled, cheered and waved their hands as a response to his question. Lucas laughed into the microphone. "Glad you like it! Now that you've had a sudden 'Rush' with Aly & AJ and you've 'Let Go' with Brie..." Backstage the three girls laughed at Lucas's joke, using the pop duo's song 'Rush' and Brie's 'Let Go'. "...So give it up to Aly, AJ and Brie who are going to come up and show you what dreams are made of!" Lucas yelled into the microphone. The crowd went wild at the mention of their names._

_Brie, Aly & AJ rushed onto the stage, grinning like fools, feeling the adrenaline rushing through their bodies. The music started playing and the girls started to clap with their microphones in their hands. They were going to sing 'What Dreams Are Made Of" by Hilary Duff. Just to end the show and to honor a great artist, one that helped to inspire all of them to follow their dreams. _

(**Brie**, Aly, AJ, **all**)

Hey now; hey now

_Aly sang into her mike and turned to face the left to wave to the crowd._

Hey now; hey now

_AJ sang next, smiling and waving at the crowd in the right side of the stadium. Then Brie walked into the middle holding her glittering sliver mike._

**Have you ever seen such a beautiful, night?  
I could almost kiss the stars for shining so bright**

_Brie blew a kiss to the crowd and smiled as they responded with a loud cheer._

**When I see you smiling and I go, oh, oh, oh  
I would never want to miss this  
'Cause in my heart, I know what this is**

_She touched her heart with her stylish net gloved hand. She closed her eyes lightly as the chorus came._

Hey now,Hey now  
**This is what dreams are made of**  
Hey now; **Hey now****  
****This is what dreams are made of**

I've got, somewhere I belong  
I've got, somebody to love  
**This is what dreams, are made of **

(Hey now; Hey now)

_Brie stepped back and Aly took centre stage._

Have you ever wondered what life is about?

_Aly looked out at the crowd with a questionable look on her face._

You could search the world and never figure it out  
You don't have to sail the oceans, no, no, no  
Happiness is no mystery, it's here now, it's you and me yeah

Hey now, **Hey now**  
**This is what dreams, are made of**  
Hey now, Hey now  
**This is what dreams, are made of**_**  
**_  
I've got, somewhere I belong  
**I've got, somebody to love**  
This is what dreams, are made of

Open your eyes (this is what dreams are made of)  
Shout to the sky (**this is what dreams are made of**)

Then I see you smiling, I go, oh, **oh**, oh  
Yesterday my life was duller, now everything is Technicolor

**Hey now**, Hey now

**This is what dreams are made of**  
Hey now, **Hey now**  
**This is what dreams, are made of**

**I've got, somewhere I belong**  
I've got, somebody to love  
This is what dreams, dreams, this is what dreams, are made of

**Hey now, hey now, hey, hey, hey, hey**  
Hey now, hey, hey, hey, hey  
**This is what dreams**  
Hey now, hey now, hey, hey, hey, hey  
**This is what dreams, what dreams are made of**

_The girls finished off on the same note and smiled. They looked out at the crowd as the fireworks erupted behind them and the balloons fell down from the ceiling. Then after a second confetti started falling from the ceiling as well. Brie grinned as the small pieces of pink paper fell down onto her. The three girls joined hands and bowed as Lucas came up on stage._

"_Thank you!" AJ starred to say. "Thank you for being here and thank you for helping us make this an awesome night!" She yelled and thrust her microphone in the air as the crowd cheered. _

"_Yeah AJ's right, we love you guys so much and thank you for coming out tonight!" Aly added to her sister's small speech. "Thank you for putting us up here on this stage." She added._

"_Wow you guys. Aly and AJ just took all the words out of my mouth so I'm not sure what to say." Brie spoke with excitement. "Thanks for sitting through all of our songs and buying our material and enjoying it! That last song was really special for me because your dreams are whatever you want them to be, wherever you want them to be. You just have to follow them and fulfil your heart's desire. Who knows maybe someday when we're all old and on the used-to-be's list, maybe one of you will be singing up here on this stage." Brie ended her speech and the crowd cheered._

"_Great night, great night. Thank you for coming guys, enjoy the rest of your night and we shall bid you goodbye!" Lucas yelled and the four gave one last wave before exiting the stage and the screaming fans. Once they were backstage the four pulled each other into a big bear hug._

"_Wow that was amazing." Aly said as they broke apart, she listened to the still screaming and excited fans outside._

"_Yeah well now we get to go and sign posters and such." AJ said half excitedly and half tiredly. She didn't mean to sound so down but the night was very exhausting._

"_Well you three go and freshen up, have a nap for 20 minutes. Then I'll come get you." Lucas said as he hugged them each and walked off. Brie waved goodbye to the sisters and then retreated to her dressing room. She took of her jewellery and then crashed on the sofa, and closed her eyes. Remembering their chants Brie...Brie...Brie..._

"Brie...Brie...Brie..." Gabriella muttered to herself. She opened her eyes and snapped out of her trance after she saw Taylor's face right in front of her. "Tay?" She asked as she rubbed her eyes.

"Yeah Gabi, you were day dreaming. Or just reminiscing." Taylor added as an afterthought. She moved and sat onto the bed.

"Urm the latter. Anyway what are you doing here?" Gabriella asked as she walked towards the bathroom.

"Well if you hadn't noticed it's Wednesday and we have to go to school. You know the place where we go to learn and possibly get slaughtered by Sharpay and her wannabe." Taylor said. Gabriella's eyes widened and she ran to the bathroom. "Thought so." Taylor laughed lightly. "I'll get you some things to wear!" Taylor yelled to her best friend.

"Yeah kay..." Gabriella yelled. Taylor sat on the bed for a moment before walking over to Gabriella's closet and opening the doors.

This closet held all of Gabriella's 'Gabriella' clothes. The sweat pants, the overalls, baggy jeans. She only ever wore some skirts on odd occasions and she was usually covered from head to toe. Taylor knew that Gabriella felt comfortable in those clothes but she wanted Gabriella to show a bit of her 'Brie' side in her everyday life. It wouldn't hurt anyone right?

That's why Taylor quietly closed the closet doors, tip-toed towards Gabriella's dresser. She then grabbed the keys laid on top of it and rushed to the room which held Gabriella's 'Brie' clothes. She needed to find something that had Gabriella written all over it with a little hint of 'Brie'.

**THE DANFORTH HOUSEHOLD**

Chad stood in front of Troy's bed. He looked down at the actor who seemed to be having a good time just... well... sleeping.

"Troy Bolton, I don't care if you're America's newest heartthrob! Just get up!" Chad shook his friend violently. This, however, didn't work. Troy just turned over as if Chad didn't exist.

"No..." Troy muttered and pulled his duvet sheets up and the pillow over his head, hoping to drown out Chad's annoying voice. Chad rolled his eyes at Troy's behaviour.

"No wonder Andre is such a pest, he has to live with you every day. That must explain why he left so quickly. It must be an utter nightmare living with you." Chad mumbled as he through his kit into his bag. He heard some shuffling behind him but chose to ignore it.

"That's not entirely true mate." Chad turned around and his eyes widened in disbelief when he found Troy sitting on the bed, fully awake and clothed.

"Wha?" Chad was slightly speechless. Troy just smirked.

"That was Andre's exact reaction." He said, sounding rather amused.

"Whatever dude, we're late. Let's go." Chad said pointing towards the door, waiting for Troy to move.

"But I haven't had breakfast yet! Big star needs to eat!" Troy pointed to himself, not bothering to move. At this, Chad just rolled his eyes.

"Big star needs to learn how to use an alarm clock. Or better yet he needs to learn that it's meant to wake YOU up, not the rest of the neighbourhood! That clock was loud." Chad said pointed to the smashed clock on the floor.

"I'm a deep sleeper, and how did it get there?" Troy asked as he retrieved the clock and tried to jam it back together.

"Well I may have thrown it at the wall; you know considering it woke me at 4:30! AM!" Chad yelled. Troy backed off a little.

"Chillax dude, you're nearly as uptight as Andre." Troy said looking down.

"That's because I made a mistake." Chad said calmly, Troy looked up at him in confusion.

"What was that then? Shampooed too much?" Troy said ruffling Chad's curls in a joking manner. Chad held Troy by the wrist and looked at him sternly.

"No I agreed on letting you camp here." He said as he walked off. Troy made a face and then followed him out to the car. Chad sighed as he got into the driver's seat. Troy joined him on the seat next to him.

"So what tune are we listening to today?" Troy asked. Chad just ignored him and turned on the radio. "Apparently anything." Troy mumbled as he looked out of the window.

"_So viewers – listeners in this case- did any of you happen to drive by Santa Fe yesterday night? Well if you were there then you were very lucky. Stars Aly and AJ performed there last night, promoting their album Insomniatic and also Brie Hudgens made an entrance promoting her new album B. It was a jaw dropping show with previous hits from the sisters and future hits from Miss Hudgens. But the finale was definitely the best; the three girls honoured the pre-Disney queen Hilary Duff by singing her song 'what dreams are made of' from 'The Lizzie McGuire Movie'. It was a big hit with the crowd and then later they got a bigger rush because the three sat down to sign autographs for their fans. So if you're sitting there with a nice..." _

"_Uh, uh I don't think they're ready for this, Another Timbaland master piece..."_

Chad changed the channel, not wanting to listen to some guy go on about three girl artists. He'd rather listen to Timbaland.

"I was listening to that." Troy said and changed the channel.

"_...and then Brie signed autographs to some of the lucky people who are waiting to talk to me now..." _Chad changed the channel again.

"_Now that you're peepin' my style, my kind of style..." _Chad smiled as he listened to the tune. Troy reached out to change the channel but Chad stopped him.

"Don't. Even. Think. About. It." Chad said. Troy dropped his hand and brought it back to settle on his lap. Chad was hardly ever serious but at the random times when he was serious, well you'd have to listen otherwise there were consequences to suffer. Troy knew this so he backed off instantly; there was nothing worse than a pissed off Chad.

Troy looked out of the window as they drove to East High. His stomach rumbled a little and Troy groaned; Chad just turned up the volume, clearly not wanting to put up with Troy today. Troy just sighed and then looked out of the window...again. This must've been the most boring ride he had ever had. But his spirits lifted when they reached East High. Chad parked his car and then got out, as did Troy.

"Dude, wait up." Troy said to Chad who was already making his way towards the school. Chad sighed and reluctantly waited for his friend to catch up. When Troy reached Chad they began to walk again.

"Hey Troy."

"Hey superstar."

"Call me." Troy smiled and waved at all the girls, sending appropriate winks to them as he went along. Chad sighed and shook his head at his best friend's antics. When was he going to learn?

"Troy." Troy turned at the sound of his name and grinned as he watched a very blonde, and glittery, Sharpay Evans strutting towards him.

"Sharpay." He nodded at her, looking at her up and down. There was no denying the fact that she was hot. Like really hot. But for some reason whenever Troy was with her, he was always reminded of _her_. One person he vowed he would forget. He shook his head of all these thoughts and concentrated on what Sharpay was trying to tell him.

"Troy I told you to call me Shar." Sharpay said with a pout on her face. Troy sighed, she was one of those Drama Queens, all me, me and me.

"Sure, Shar." He replied. "But you know the rules; only girls from A-M get to talk to me in the morning." Troy said. He made that rule up because it helped to organise the amount of girls that harassed him. Not that he hated the harassment part. It was just his face and body he was worried about, his ego was fine with harassment. Sharpay frowned at his words.

"But Troy..." She protested. Now normally she wouldn't stand for that type of behaviour, but he _was_ Troy Bolton. So anything went as long as she got to spend some time with him.

"But nothing, rules are rules and you're breaking them." He tutted. Sharpay stomped her foot on the road and pouted. Troy grinned, definitely one of those Drama Queens.

"I can talk to you right? After all, my name begins with a K" Troy watched as a petite little brunette walked up to him. He studied her carefully, she was exceedingly pretty, and that was great in Troy's books. Kelsi grinned as Troy walked towards her.

"Sure babe." Troy said placing an arm around her. Kelsi smiled, he had called her babe. What she didn't know was that Troy forgot her name and found it easier calling her babe. Sharpay watched as her lackey walked off with Troy. Her blood boiled.

"Relax Evans; you'll get your turn." Sharpay turned around to find Chad standing next to her. She narrowed her eyes at him for a moment and then her face relaxed.

"Whatever Chad and you'll get your turn too." She replied as they began follow Troy and Kelsi towards the school. Chad faced the blonde and gave her a what-the-hell look.

"My turn? If you haven't noticed 'Shar' I'm not gay." Chad pointed out with some slight sarcasm, a habit he definitely picked up from Gabriella. Sharpay rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"No you dimbat, I meant you'll get your turn in the spotlight soon." Chad gave her another look, this time he looked at her in awe. Usually Sharpay said meaningless mean things, never something that actually made sense.

"I don't need the spotlight; I don't want to end up like him." Chad pointed to his best friend who was currently flirting with Kelsi. "Not knowing the name of the girl who I'm flirting with." Chad said. "By the way how are you okay with Kelsi and Troy?" He asked, wondering how she was putting up with her friend flirting with the guy she was, no doubt, in love with.

"He doesn't know her name, that's why. When he's talking to me it's not babe, its Sharpay and Shar. Not babe, honey or when I say my name begins with S he doesn't call me S and say that it's a special name for me." Sharpay explained. Chad nodded, who knew that East High's resident Ice Princess actually made some sense every now and again?

"That explains a lot. You're right as well; your name is definitely one of the girls' names he remembers." Chad said. Sharpay looked at him.

"Who are the others?" She asked sweetly. She needed to know who these other girls were and what relation they had with her man.

"Taylor, Mom's, Liss, Jennifer, Gina, Brie, Amanda, Gabriella, Harmony and obviously Rachel." Chad named the few he'd heard Troy talk about. Sharpay nodded, her mind was noting down each name.

Taylor was obviously safe because she was the girl Chad fancied the pants off. Troy would obviously remember her name. Mrs Danforth was another safe one because, hello, it was Mrs Danforth. Liss was safe as well because she was Chad's older sister and usually tried to annoy Troy as much as she could. Jennifer was Troy's co-star in one of the TV series that he did, so he had to remember her name. Gina was a friend of his mother's (Sharpay knew this because Gina was also a friend of her mother's) and she usually helped Troy out. Brie was obviously Brie Hudgens and no one could forget her, so Sharpay would let that one slide. Amanda was his long-time girlfriend who he had broken up with two months ago. Then Gabriella, wait... Gabriella?

"Gabriella?" Sharpay read her thoughts out loud and she didn't sound too happy when doing so. Chad noticed the anger in his eyes and ran ahead. He sprinted past Troy and Kelsi in his attempt to get away from Sharpay. He knew that she would start an interrogation, but what he didn't know was what was going to happen next.

**SMACK**

Next thing he knew, he was on the floor. He sat up and shook his head; he was glad that his Afro cushioned his fall. He cast his eyes on the other person, to see if he or she was okay, and his eyes nearly popped out. He knew that she might be okay, but he wasn't.

"Ouch... that hurt." She complained as she placed a hand on her head and looked around at all her books that had fallen on the floor. She looked up and blushed when she saw that the person she had bumped into was none other than Chad Danforth. "Chad, urm... hey." Taylor waved her hand in front of his face, snapping him out of the trance he had been put into. He blinked once and then looked at his long-time crush; if that's what you called it.

"Urm, you alright?" Chad asked, and Taylor smiled as she heard the concern lacing his voice. She nodded, since she couldn't find the right words to say, and began to gather all her things. Chad nodded for no reason and then helped her, coincidentally they picked up the same book and their hands touched. Both felt that electric spark, though neither acknowledged it. They looked away at the same time, thinking how corny this scene would look in a film. But secretly they liked it – yes Chad loved being corny, but whatever right?

"I'll catch you later K." Troy bid Kelsi goodbye with a kiss on the cheek and watched her as she skipped off. He grinned as he noticed the extra jump in her step. He loved having that affect on girls. He turned around to look for his friend and spotted Chad on the ground... helping Taylor gather her books. The superstar shook his head, he had acted out that scene in movies and it was way too predictable and corny. But then again Chad always secretly loved corny, and as far as Chad was concerned, Troy was sure that Taylor wouldn't deny the corny moment. He walked up to the pair as they stood up together in a trance-like state. "Chad." Troy spoke, startling Chad and almost making Taylor drop her books, again.

"Troy..." Chad began to say and then his sentence trailed off as he noticed something. Troy was unaware of this and carried on talking.

"What man? I leave you for a second and you just...whoa." His vocal chords were disintegrated as Chad slowly turned his head towards the door and a bomb went off in Troy's body.

Walking out of the parking lot was an angel sent from heaven. Taylor followed their gazes and smiled, she had done well. All the boys eyed her as she walked down the path. Her knee length laced up boots hit the floor as she walked. Her tight black leather trousers outlined her legs as they carried her down the path. The slight sight of her midriff drove them crazy as did her pink low cut top with two straps on her shoulders right up to her colourful jacket. A thick gold bangle went up and down her arm as she walked, and a ring rested on one of her delicate fingers as she pulled a strand of hair out of her eyes. Her exposed neck was preoccupied with a stylish and rare Celtic necklace.

Her normally curly and long hair was cut to her shoulders, layered and feathered, then straightened to make it look sleek and sophisticated. Gabriella's face was a beauty on its own; usually she never wore too much makeup. Only some mascara and some lip gloss but today Taylor had forced her into wearing more. Taylor had forced Gabriella to take a page out of Brie's book. Her face was an ivory colour due to the foundation Taylor had put on. The foundation helped make her eyes stand out. Gabriella's honey-coloured eyes were outlined by some blue/grey smoky eye-shadow. The last thing Taylor dealt with was Gabriella's lips. As she looked over at the brunette she realised that she was pouting. Her lips were glossy and a watermelon red colour. To finish off she just added some blush, although now she realised she didn't have to. Gabriella was blushing anyway. Taylor looked around at all the guys and grinned.

Sharpay caught up to the group and looked at Taylor and Chad and then to Troy's shocked face. She followed his gaze and her eyes widened as she spotted the object of his attention. "What..." She mumbled to herself. She couldn't believe that she was looking at Gabriella Montez. Gabriella who wore comfortable and unstylish sweats, loose tops blouses and gypsy skirts. She usually wore black pumps or loafer's not sexy boots.

The blonde looked around at all the boys of East High and frowned when she saw that they were drooling. She sighed with relief when she saw that one dark-skinned boy wasn't drooling – until she realised that it was Zeke and he was probably scheduling more kick-boxing classes. She then turned to face the other guy whom she knew would never see Gabriella as anything but a sister, Chad's relaxed face was very refreshing. Well until she realised that Troy was still staring at Gabriella as she walked past him and into the school.

Sharpay looked towards the glass in front of her. She looked down at her own blue sparkly strapped top and thought it was nothing compared to Gabriella's. She eyed her own black, again sparkly, miniskirt and decided that leather pants were more fitting. She fiddled with the sparkly gold belt and tapped her foot on the ground with her white heels. Her own slightly damp, extremely curly and back pinned fringe was hard from the hairspray and nowhere as sophisticated as Gabriella's sleek cut. Her own peeling foundation, sticky mascara, uneven eyeliner and metallic gold eye shadow were nothing compared to Gabriella's smoky look. Sharpay raised her hand to touch her once glossy lips and then sighed. How would she be able to live if Gabriella took the stage?

"I don't think so." Sharpay whispered to herself and tossed back a handful of her curls. She took out her personalized, glittery, SE engraved phone and pressed 7 on speed dial with her perfectly manicured nails. "Girls, get over here. We have some serious work to do." She ordered and hung up. She gave the retreating back of Gabriella one last envious glare and then strutted away.

Taylor, Chad and Troy made their way into the school, Troy was more eager than the others. They walked past all the students and finally reached Gabriella's locker.

"Hey guys." Gabriella smiled when she spotted her friends walking over. She brushed her fringe out of her eyes. "Taylor, you were absolutely right about these clothes. They make me feel amazing! I should've done this a long time ago." Gabriella beamed, fingering her multi-coloured jacket.

Taylor smiled at the radiant look on her best friend's face. "It was a pleasure Gabs. Besides they don't just make you feel good, they make you look good as well." Taylor complimented her. Gabriella blushed at her friend's comment. "Stop blushing! If I knew that you were going to blush so much today I never would've added that tint of pink to your cheeks!" The pinkness left Gabriella's face as soon as Taylor spoke.

"Yes ma'am." Gabriella saluted her friend. She looked over at Chad who was frowning. "What's wrong C?" She asked her bushy haired friend.

"Nothing... you know, just the fact that Zeke, Jason, Ryan, Troy and I will have to beat the boys off with a stick!" Chad looked slightly tired. He looked over at Troy and then whispered in Taylor's ear. "Actually, make that four of us; I think Troy is the one we'll have to beat off." Taylor snorted and then looked at Troy who was actually drooling.

"You three have fun, I've got to go." Gabriella closed her locker door and walked away from her friends. She almost tripped over a cheerleader's foot, but was saved by the dozen of boys who jumped to save her. They then followed her as she walked to her classroom. Troy stared at her as she walked off with the boys following her. She had certainly transformed into a butterfly. One that looked good next to him. Troy admitted to himself that he felt some sort of attraction towards her before. But now that attraction just hit the roof and filled his body with utter want.

"Where are you off to?" Chad asked as Troy walked in the same direction as Gabriella.

"G comes before M right?" Troy said with a wink. Chad shook his head knowing that nothing good was going to come from this.

* * *

**A bit of a replay! But I'm re-writing it quickly, so the fourth chapter will be up today and then I'll get to the fifth and sixth. After that I'll finish writing the seventh and kind of pick up where I left the story last time!**

**xoxo-catz-eyez-xoxo**


	4. Mei Ling Song Daoming Cong and Bob!

**Fourth chapter as promised! It's longer than the one before and it's much better if I do say so myself ;)**

**Enjoy....!**

**

* * *

**

**Best of Both Worlds**

**Chapter Four**

**Mei Ling Song Daoming Cong and Bob!**

"You look hot Gabriella!"

"Looking good Montez"

"Summer break obviously done you well..."

"Is it me or is it getting hot in here?" Gabriella rolled her eyes and walked away from another lame chat up line and another frustrating conversation where another guy tries to ask her out.

"If you were a parking ticket you'd have FINE printed all over you." Okay that one just put the icing on the cake. Gabriella just winced as Jake high-fived his mates. But she chose to ignore the comment and just walk on as if she hadn't heard a word. It was an understatement to say that she was tired of what was going on. She was way beyond that, she was annoyed, frustrated and so close to running home and changing. She couldn't take anymore of the wolf-whistles, stares and glares. She bit her lip as she walked over to her locker. Maybe she shouldn't have trusted Taylor with picking out her clothes.

Gabriella reached her locker and sighed, she hadn't been hassled for at least two seconds. That was a record. She reached up and turned the dial of her locker. She was just about to dial in the last number when a hand appeared on top of hers. She turned to her right and sighed when she came face to face with one familiar, and persistent, face.

"Hey Gabriella..." He greeted her with a smile and she forced herself to smile back at him. "I've forgotten my locker combination and wondered if you could help me." He went on to say. Gabriella raised an eyebrow. What was she supposed to do about that? She also wondered why Tom was speaking in a tone that insinuated that he had spent all morning rehearsing those lines in front of the mirror. The sane side of her brain told her to ignore him, and then that same side told her that she needed her hand back.

"I don't see how I can help." Gabriella answered. Tom smirked making Gabriella regret the fact that she replied to him.

"You see, it was actually your phone number. So I'm going to need it again." He told her with an extremely serious look on his face, Gabriella had to think twice before she realised that he was bluffing. Tom wiggled his eyebrows one more time and Gabriella was dragged back down to Planet Common Sense. Tom Henson was toying with her just to get her digits. She sighed in frustration and then plastered a smile on her face.

"No problem Tom..." She smiled angelically at him. The senior looked pleased with himself; it was as if he had accomplished a life goal. "It's 1800..." She began to say; she kept her eyes from rolling as Tom pulled out a piece of paper. His hand was taken off hers and she was able to breathe. "...in your dreams." She finished off and then opened her locker, blocking Tom's face from her view. He ran to her other side and grinned.

"You always are..." He looked at her up and down, causing her to shiver in disgust. He was about to carry on when Gabriella's locker door closed and Tom came face to face with the one guy who would gladly pummel him if he was caught near Gabriella again.

"Hello brother." She greeted Zeke. The tall Basketball player smiled at her and then turned to Tom with an icy, protective glare. The blonde smiled nervously and then backed away, not wanting to get into a fight with Zeke. Gabriella smiled to herself. "...your timing is impeccable." She told him.

"Ella, what the hell are you dressed as?" He asked his sister as soon as he was certain that Tom was out of sight. He leaned against the locker next to Gabriella's and gave her a look. "Well..." He prompted. Gabriella gave a roll of her eyes and turned to reach for her Biology book which was on the top shelf.

"Woke up late, Tay hauled me into the bathroom telling me that I was late, so I let her grab my clothes. Do the math." She strained to grab the book from the top shelf. Zeke sighed and reached up to grab the book.

"So what about all that make up?" He asked her as he handed her the book. "I mean you had to be willing to let her slap that stuff on your face." He raised his eyebrows at her. Gabriella rolled her eyes not out of annoyance, but because he was right. Taylor hadn't forced her into wearing makeup. She'd volunteered and maybe it was because she felt like Brie when she was wearing these clothes; completely confident, and gorgeous.

"Yeah maybe I was willing enough to let her do more than just pick out my clothes." Gabriella admitted, checking out her reflection in the small mirror in her locker.

"She's good at makeovers, I'll give her that. But you looking like, _that_ is bad news for me." Zeke frowned as he spoke. His little sister raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow at him.

"How so?" she asked taking out her Cheeky Monkey notepad and pencil.

"For starters, if all the guys in the school keep on asking you out and touching you, then I'll have to pummel them! But if that doesn't stop them from touching you..." Zeke's voice went cold and trailed off as a look of violence shined through his eyes. Gabriella watched as her brother eyed the boys walking by. His left hand collided with his right fist and a single thud was heard. Gabriella winced as he connected them again. It sounded like a rhythm going thud... thud... thud. Gabriella jumped at the loudest thud and quickly placed her hands over her brother's.

"Zeke... relax. You don't have to worry about pummelling any guys or worry about me at all for that matter." She announced with pride. Zeke's eyebrows shot up.

"Why's that then?" He asked. Gabriella rolled her eyes at his tone of voice.

"I'm a black belt in Tai Kwon Do and almost every other form of Martial Arts." She pointed out. Zeke nodded, wondering how he could forget that, she reminded him of it whenever they fought over the last triple chocolate fudge cake piece. "Plus, I have some awesome kick boxing skills!" She added.

"Taylor can do some damage with her fists as well." Zeke added, remembering exactly what it was like to be punched by Gabriella's friend. After that day Zeke had never teased Taylor about Chad.

"That's true, so I'm all set and ready to beat and humiliate any boys who try to come onto me." Gabriella turned to face her locker again and began to skim through the books. Zeke stayed quiet, knowing that his sister was right and that she was able to look after herself.

"Okay G I'll back off, but if Sharpay dares to utter a word then I'll get involved whether you like it or not." He told her. Gabriella looked away from her locker and smiled at him.

"That's all I ask for." She said.

"Yeah I'd also have to separate your hands from her hair and then quickly bin the bucket load of extensions that'll be glued to your hands." He added as an afterthought. Gabriella watched her brother in amusement. "Then I'll have to pry Taylor's fists away from Sharpay's face, that could be harmful for me but I can take the risk. Anyway then I'll insult Sharpay, maybe even spit on her and then leave laughing with you and Taylor. Then the school will call home and Mom and Dad will ground me for three weeks and you for one." He said staring into space. It was as if he was imaging the scene in his head. Gabriella giggled and then waved her hand in front of Zeke's face.

"Oi! Mr Macho." She snapped her fingers because the waving wasn't working. But the snaps worked because Zeke snapped out of his thoughts and was bought back to reality. "That was some scene you imagined up." Gabriella said, quite impressed with what her brother had thought up. "Yeah but I don't get one thing. Don't you have a thing for yonder yellow haired Chicklet?" Gabriella asked. Zeke looked at her in confusion.

"Chicklet?" He repeated. Gabriella rolled her eyes.

"Yeah Chicklet, us _stars_ get to make up new words every now and then. So Chicklet is mine. Now answer the question bozo." Gabriella replied to his one word statement.

"Oh right. Well I used to like really like her but she never returned the feelings so I thought that I'd forget her. Move on and find someone new." Zeke said with determination. "Plus, family comes before her every single time. She treats you like crap so I have to treat her that way, because that's fair." Zeke finished off. Gabriella smiled.

"Aw that's so sweet bro. Not every guy is willing to treat another girl like crap just for their little sister. And as weird as that may sound, I'm glad that you'd do that for me." She said and then reached up to give him a small hug. After a second she pulled away from him and closed her locker door. "Anyway I have to go." She said as she grabbed her bag from the floor. She placed the books she was holding in her bag and then slung the bag over her shoulder. "Ms Darbus will freak if I'm late to homeroom and that's a risk I am so not willing to take." She said as she started to walk off.

"Later!" Zeke called out from behind her. Gabriella smiled and then turned around to give him a wave before walking onwards. She dragged her feet slightly, not wanting to go to homeroom but knowing that she had to. She held her head up high as she walked through the hallways and past all the students. Usually she would go unnoticed but today was the day she realised that people did pay attention to her.

"Look who it is..." Gabriella's ears perked up slightly as she heard a comment that was directed blatantly at her. She looked up and caught the cheerleading squad glaring at her. They were standing a few doors away from her homeroom, probably trying to get a glimpse of Troy before going their own ways. The brunette sighed and took a deep breath as she ventured forward. As soon as she took a step forward, a hand was placed on her shoulder and she turned around.

"Gabriella, hey, I was just wondering on whether you wanted to rent a movie and then watch it around mine? Like old times. I have popcorn." Gabriella stared at the boy standing before her. Not believing that he was actually talking to her.

"Evan?" She couldn't grasp the fact that her ex-boyfriend was standing in front of her. She was surprised when she realised that he was talking to her and shocked when she went onto realise that he was asking her out. Then she figured out why he was even bothering with her. She looked different, grown up and, admittedly, gorgeous. Gabriella cursed Taylor under her breath. She vowed to either blow Taylor up or dissect her, whichever was more painful.

"Gabriella? Riella," Evan spoke again. "You okay?" He waved his hand in front of her face, bringing her out of her revengeful thoughts.

"Riella," She repeated. "That's something I never want to hear again." She mumbled. The nickname seemed adorable and romantic when she was dating him. Now it made her cringe and think about what a fool she was back then. "Don't call me that Evan." She spoke louder and then turned to walk away. But Evan wasn't going to let her go that easily. He grabbed her arm and held on tightly.

"Gabriella..." He began again. The brunette struggled to free herself from his tight grip.

"Let go of me Evan." She spoke through gritted teeth. Gabriella's ex looked at her longingly before letting her go. "I know you only want me because I look different." She spun around to face him; the guilt in his eyes confirmed her assumption. "But even if I looked like I did yesterday and you asked me out, then I would still say no. I made the mistake of saying yes to you two years ago. I'm not going to go through all of that hassle again." Gabriella rubbed her slightly bruised arm as she stormed off towards her homeroom. Evan just stood, glued to the spot as he watched her walk away.

"Wow." Evan heard a deep and amused voice from behind him. "Tough luck buddy" He felt a hand rest on his shoulder and turned to face a pair of familiar blue eyes and cocky smirk.

"I'm glad you enjoyed the show." Evan spoke bitterly. His ego was blatantly bruised and Troy seemed to find that funny. The actor held up his hands in surrender.

"I'm just trying to be nice. I know what it's like..." Troy began to say.

"What would you know about tough luck Bolton?" Evan yelled, making Troy jump back a step. "You've always gotten what your heart desired." Evan spat out his words, literally. He spat all over Troy. The superstar took another step back and wiped off Evan's spit from the corner of his mouth. He threw a disgusted glance at Evan.

"Maybe she chucked you because of your seriously horrendous spraying habit." Troy said. "Ever heard of the saying 'say it don't spray it'!" He advised and then walked past Evan; the disgusted look remained on his face.

"You think you're all that Bolton, but you're not!" Evan yelled.

"Huh, quoting from Kim Possible. Why did Gabriella date him?" Troy asked himself.

"I'd like to see you give it a try Bolton." Troy stopped and his ears perked up as he heard those few words. It sounded like a challenge and Troy Bolton was a big fan of challenges. Evan grinned, realising that he had caught the actor's attention. "You wouldn't be able to do it anyway. She hates you." Evan added. Troy turned around and faced Evan with a smirk on his face,

"She doesn't hate me because hate is a big word. She dislikes me sounds more like Gabriella. She dislikes using words which have meanings that are bigger than the word itself. Like hate. But you should know that shouldn't you? After all you did date her." Troy replied and smiled when he saw the thoughtful look on Evan's face. "If you didn't know that then maybe you two just weren't meant to be." Troy finished off and then walked away leaving Evan to his thoughts.

**Room 104 – also known as the Darbus' Lair...**

Gabriella marched into Room 104 and dropped her bag onto the floor. It landed with a thud, making the guy behind her jump. She sent him a glare and then parked herself down on the seat.

"G!" She looked up and smiled slightly as she spotted Chad walk into the room with his basketball under one arm and a bag of cheesy puffs in the other. Some people would never change. "You've changed so much!" He exclaimed as he took his seat next to her.

"I'm still me C; I've just changed the way I look." She replied with annoyance. Chad nodded, realising that the brunette was annoyed.

"Well you clean up nicely G. Scott Jamieson was blabbering on about how 'fine' you look and Celia what-her-name said that she's jealous because you look like a million bucks." He went on to say.

"Who knew that a pair of leather pants and a colourful jacket could make so much difference?" Gabriella sighed. Chad stopped eating his snack and smiled sadly at the girl sitting at the desk next to him.

"For what it's worth, you look good. Better. I would even go as far as calling you hot, but I can't because that word belongs to Taylor. She is the definition of hotness." Chad grinned, pulling out a cheesy puff and munching on it. Gabriella laughed at the slight pink tint of blush on his cheeks.

"I'm glad you said that. Taylor deserves your attention more than I do. I've been getting enough of it anyway." She mumbled.

"Yup, I can see it on the cover of Wildcats Weekly. East High lads go crazy for our local Latina." Chad said, making the said Latina smile.

"Thanks for trying to make me laugh...it worked." Gabriella said with a giggle. Chad just smiled and sat down at his desk. He threw the empty Cheesy Puffs packet into the bin next to his desk and placed his basketball on top of his desk. "Do you have to take that with you everywhere you go?" Gabriella asked. She had always wanted to ask him what was with his basketball but she never got around to asking it. Now she did and she really wanted to know what the answer was.

"Yeah I do. I love basketball, and this ball was a gift so I keep it with me." Chad said as he hugged the ball. Gabriella smiled but didn't know what to say. She looked up and spotted Troy waltz into the classroom with a handful of girls following him. Some she recognised as girls from their homeroom whilst others were just staring at him longingly from the doorway.

"Chad." Troy nodded at his best friend as he walked over and sat down at his desk. He looked over at Gabriella with his blue orbs and smiled. The brunette just replied with a small smile of her own.

"You finished with ginger head" Chad asked. Troy raised an eyebrow. "The girl you were talking to in the hallway." Troy gave him a blank look. "Cassandra, remember?" Chad rolled his eyes at his friend's behaviour.

"Oh right, her." He looked over at Gabriella who just scoffed at his behaviour. "I was just saying hi, nothing big. I was actually talking to Evan." Troy replied his eyes were glued onto Gabriella's face.

"Evan?" Chad mused. "Which Evan?" he asked casually. Troy noticed Gabriella move her head in his direction slightly; it looked like she was waiting to hear his response too.

"Evan Michaels." Troy told them. He fought the urge to grin as the brunette in front of him turned away with a sour expression on her face.

"Great..." She mumbled under her breath.

"Michaels?" Chad thought out loud. He hesitated for a moment before turning to face Gabriella. "Isn't he the guy you dated back in Sophomore Year?" Chad asked. Gabriella nodded slightly.

"Are you serious?" Troy feigned surprise. "I had no idea, mind you Gabi-" Troy began to say.

"Gabriella." The brunette corrected him.

"Gabriella. I didn't know he was your type, I didn't think he was anyway." He finished. "I mean the guy quote's Kim Possible for Pete's sake." He added silently.

"Yeah... well... we all make mistakes." Gabriella looked down at her empty desk, she was trying to find something else to look at, something to distract her but she wasn't able to. The superstar noticed that she wasn't in the mood to talk about Evan. So he decided to be the good guy and let it slide... for now.

"Believe that." He decided on saying. Chad placed a hand on Troy's shoulder, knowing exactly what his friend was talking about.

"It happened a long time ago man." Chad comforted him. "You've got to let it go." He was referring to Amanda, Troy's first love. Gabriella watched as Troy's eyes turned a darker shade of blue, and his jaw tightened. The actor looked straight at Gabriella and then quickly looked away. He thought that she hadn't seen the regret and sadness in his eyes. But she had seen them, and she knew exactly how he felt.

"Dude," Troy's eyes changed back to their normal cool blue colour. "_You've_ got to let the topic go." His expression was no longer cold, instead his infamous smirk rested on his lips. "She was just a chick to me." He spoke casually. "A chick who thought that she could find a better guy than me" He pointed to himself. "Well she found out she was wrong, because a few weeks after '_breaking my heart_'," He used air quotes. "She came back to me and guess what I did. I turned her away and didn't take her back. She was just a waste of time." Chad shook his head as Troy continued smirking. "Troy Bolton is not one to get played and he never takes any relationship seriously. It's all just a game to him." He added.

Gabriella rolled her eyes at his sudden change of attitude. It was like he was trying to suppress the sadness by acting like a fool. Just like her he was upset and hurt over whatever had occurred. And like her he didn't want to show it. Gabriella felt like she could relate with him because she had the same experience with Evan. She didn't want to relive that past so why should Troy be any different?

"Good morning young thespians!" The three looked up as Ms Darbus waltzed into the room with a pile of pink papers in her hands. Her grey hair was tied up in a bun as usual and her aviator spectacles were perched on the bridge of her nose as she looked down at all the students. Today her body was wrapped in a flowery, glittery shawl.

Gabriella grinned upon seeing the crazy drama teacher. If there was one thing she didn't mind saying about the older woman, it was that she wasn't afraid to show who she truly was. For that, Gabriella admired her drama-crazy-Shakespeare-long-teacher.

"It's good to see you all here today."She went onto say. Chad looked at Ms Darbus, his eyebrows raised and his moth slightly open. "Mr Danforth..." The older woman began to say. Chad waited and braced himself for the expected. "Please keep the basketball out of sight; it belongs in the gym, not in my classroom." Chad looked at Gabriella with his jaw wide open. Her expression mirrored his. "Cell phones are to be put away," The students groaned slightly and took their cell phones out, expecting their teacher to take out her bucket. "But you can keep them in your pockets if they're on silent." Now all of the students' expressions matched Chad's. The drama teacher turned around, as if everything was normal and she wasn't acting out of the ordinary. But the students begged to differ, whilst they were pleased with the fact that they got to keep their cell phones, they still thought that their teacher had gone nuts... or was on drugs. One of those explanations would have been accepted.

Chad raised his hand slowly, as if he were afraid. Ms Darbus turned around and smiled widely at Chad. "Are you okay?" He asked wearily, and then winced as the teacher's smile widened.

"I'm _perfectly_ fine." She placed emphasis on the 'perfectly'. "I also have a surprise for you!" She pointed towards the door, the students turned to face the door wondering what she was babbling about. It opened as soon as Ms Darbus clapped her hand and revealed two people. One was a woman, fairly tall with light skin and a pair of glistening dark brown eyes. She patted back her golden blonde hair with one hand and held a black microphone in the other. Next to her was a man, who looked to be shorter than her. His brown hair stuck out from underneath his blue cap, and his clothes looked slightly scruffy. He looked messy compared to his partner, who looked like she had nipped and tucked away everything that was unwanted. The man held a camera in his hands.

The woman took a few steps and turned to face the cameraman. He held up his fingers and counted down from five to one. "_Hi there, I'm Mei with the latest gossip on what is the latest in Hollywood. Today we've come to East High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico to see the one and only Troy Bolton in his new school._" She spoke into the camera. "_These are the people who he is surrounded by every day..._" She turned and walked further into the room. The cameraman followed her in and did a panning shot of the room covering all the students. "_So you've entered the school with us and you've walked through the corridors. We've even caught Troy Bolton by surprise!_" She pointed towards the actor. The camera focused on his face and he was truly shocked to see them. The cameraman switched the camera and the woman sighed.

"Who the hell is she?" Chad whispered to Gabriella after a few seconds. The woman heard him and smiled with force.

"I'm Mei Ling Song Dao-Ming Cong." She introduced herself and then looked at the man standing beside her.

"I'm Bob!" He said smiling and then waved at the class. Chad burst out laughing whilst Troy emitted a groan.

"Chad, why are you laughing?" Gabriella asked her friend who looked like he was about to burst out crying too.

"H-Her name was... like... so long..." Gabriella waited. "... a-and then he said... he said..." Gabriella waited again.

"He said?" She prompted.

"Bob!" He exclaimed and then began to laugh again. Gabriella rolled her eyes at his childish behaviour and looked at Troy. The superstar was currently busying himself by continuously banging his head on his desk.

"What's wrong with you?" She asked. His head shot up and Gabriella could see a slight bruise on his forehead. "You should get that checked." Gabriella pointed to it. Troy touched his forehead and then groaned with pain.

"That's the least of my concerns right now." He said, pointing to Mei and Bob. Gabriella opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off.

"Troy Bolton!" Both Gabriella and Troy winced at the sound of her voice. "I haven't seen you since we filmed you backstage at Lost: The Island of Secrets." She grinned at him. Troy smiled forcefully and Gabriella could tell that he wasn't extremely fond of the reporter.

"Oh, how the days have flown by. It felt like that it was yesterday when you came backstage... unannounced." _Unwanted_, he added silently.

"Yes well," She flipped her blonde locks over her shoulder and batted her eyelashes at the superstar. Gabriella snorted, Mei reminded her of Sharpay. The blonde shot her a look and then smiled at Troy. "Interesting company you keep." She scrunched her nose up at Chad's hair and the bag of cheesy puffs that were placed on his desk.

"Yeah it must hard to be surrounded by people who actually eat." Gabriella muttered.

"You were such a star back in those days and now you've decided to come to this place... why?" She whispered looking around at the students. Gabriella raised her eyebrows at the reporter.

"There's nothing wrong with this place." Troy sounded defensive. "Why are you here anyway?" He asked her.

"To see you of course." She smiled widely at him, making him shiver in horror. "That and our boss wants us to do a whole coverage on how you're coping in school. So here we are!" The blonde announced, throwing her hands up into the air and almost hitting Bob in the face. Chad burst out in laughter again earning him weird looks from the others.

"That's just..." Troy gave her a fake smile. "Brilliant." The sarcasm leaked through his words, but Mei was unaware of it.

"Well then, let's get to it. Bob!" Mei clicked her fingers in the air. The cameraman ran out of the classroom and returned a few minutes later with a different camera in his hands. "We need a good picture of you for the front cover of our magazine." She said as she looked around the room, her eyes dazzled with excitement.

"Wait... photo? Why? I thought you were just going to film me for 10 minutes and then leave." He tried not to sound too happy at the thought of her leaving. Mei looked at his face a smiled sadly.

"Troy, sweetie, we're going to follow you around all day. So don't worry about not seeing me again, because I'm here _all day_." She grinned like the Cheshire cat out of Alice in Wonderland. Gabriella looked over at the actor and watched as he jumped out of his seat. The thought of seeing her all day was as unwelcoming to him as it was to Gabriella.

"Have you talked to Andre?" Troy asked. Mei looked clueless. "My agent?" Troy helped her out. Realization swept over her features and she shook her head. The boy rolled his eyes and mumbled something about being 'unprofessional'. Gabriella watched as he took out his iPhone and pressed 5 on speed dial. "It's Troy." He spoke, getting up and walking out of the classroom.

"I know I have caller ID Troy." Andre greeted him with sarcasm as usual.

"I need to ask you something..." He began to say. Andre sighed heavily into the phone.

"Whatever it is you broke or whoever's heart you broke, just add it to the bill. I'll deal with it when I come to visit this weekend." Andre said in an emotionless tone. Troy rolled his eyes at his agent's words.

"It's nothing like that," Andre sighed with relief. "Mei with the freakishly long name and her boy Bob are here. She's saying that they're going to follow me around. All day. Has this been run past you?" Troy asked.

"Yeah." Andre replied.

"Good, so you'll complain – wait, what? You know?" Troy asked.

"Yeah. I set it up." Andre replied. Troy rolled his eyes at small information that was handed to him. By small he meant none at all.

"So when were you going to tell me?" Troy demanded to know.

"Well. Now I suppose. Troy you will be followed by Mei and Bob all day..."

"Yeah I kind of figured that out Captain Obvious! Sarcasm isn't really helping me right now. It's going to take up my time and I won't be able to concentrate when she's following me around." Andre snorted.

"Yeah. Like you're there to study." He laughed at his own comment.

"I thought I was and my mother made it pretty clear that that was why she was sending me here." Troy argued. Andre sighed.

"Up here there's been no news about you in the gossip magazines or on the TV. No movie deals have come through and there is still no response on your music deal. So I set this up. To let people know that you are still alive and in action. So go with it." Andre told him. Troy sighed, he wanted Andre to be wrong, but in a way he was right. But he was enjoying his time without the cameras; it was something he hadn't had for ages. Privacy. But he liked being left alone. Then again, he knew that he needed the publicity to stay on the social map.

"Fine..." He sighed. He got almost hear Andre smiling on the other end.

"That's a good actor." Andre praised him.

"I'll do it, but I don't like it one bit." He added and then hung up before Andre could get in another word. He took a deep breath before walking back into the classroom. For a minute he thought that he had walked into a different classroom, but then he spotted Mei's blonde hair and realised that he was standing in Room 104.

"Troy!" Mei grinned at him. "Everything sorted?" She asked. He nodded slowly.

"What the hell happened here?" He asked. The classroom looked totally different. Most of the desks were pushed back against the walls and the chairs were stacked in a corner. There was one desk and chair placed in the middle. He presumed that it was for him. Around that desk were a few pretty girls. It looked like Mei was rearranging the way they stood. He looked around for his best friend and classmate and then found them standing at the back. Chad looked disgusted and Gabriella wore her usual annoyed expression. "Why are they over there?" He asked the reporter.

"Urm we need the pretty people down here. The rest have to be far, far away." She said, wrinkling her nose. Troy rolled his cobalt eyes at her behaviour, what was she? Five? If they were going to do this, they were going to do it his way.

"If you want me to do this feature you're going to have to abide by my rules." He began to say. Mei raised an eyebrow at his words.

"What would they be then?" She asked, sounding amused.

"Chad and Gabriella get to sit with me." He said pointing towards them.

**AT THE BACK WITH CHAD AND GABRIELLA...**

"How long is this going to take?" Chad asked Gabriella for what seemed like the hundredth time. The brunette groaned.

"If you ask me that question one more time, I'm gonna whack you over the head with the camera that Bob is holding." She spoke calmly but sternly making Chad shudder slightly.

"That sounds really painful." He squeaked. "It would also cause a massive, massive headache." He added, his voice returning to its normal volume. Gabriella rolled her eyes and looked back at the scene in front of her. It looked like Troy and Mei were... arguing?

**WITH TROY AND MEI...**

"They're my friends and they need to be with me, I'm not going to take the photo if they're not in it!" Troy was trying not to yell too loudly. But by the way everyone was staring; he knew that he wasn't doing a good job.

"Troy." Mei sighed; she placed her hands on her head and took a deep breath. "Stop being difficult." She told him.

"Me? Being difficult?" He laughed. "You're the one who wants me to do something to make your cover look genuine when it's not. Chad is my best friend, so it's necessary to have him there, since he's going to be with me all the time when you're following me! Gabriella is one of the most attractive girls in this classroom, some would argue the MOST attractive and you've shooed her to the back?" His eyes were turning a dark blue and Mei realised that she would have to accept his terms if she wanted to keep her job.

**AT THE BACK WITH CHAD AND GABRIELLA...**

"Why does he enjoy the limelight so much?" Gabriella thought out aloud as she saw Troy reluctantly sit in the seat that was laid out for him.

"He's a celebrity. They all enjoy having pictures taken of them." Chad replied with a shrug of his shoulders. Gabriella shook her head, knowing that not all celebrities liked the paparazzi. For example, Brie, she hates having people follow her around and have them snapping pictures of her. It was too overwhelming.

"I would hate it, if I were a celebrity. I'd rather have people treat me like a normal person." She said as she watched Troy jump out of his seat.

"Yeah, because it's so horrible to be one of the hottest actor and singer of your generation. Plus having all those girls surrounding you and having your picture taken with them so that girls at home can kiss it endless is just too problematic. Who would want that?" Chad spoke with sarcasm.

"I'd rather sit back here and be normal, rather than be out there acting like an arrogant jerk." Gabriella replied.

"Oh yeah, this is so much fun." Chad turned his head to his left and jumped at Suzy sneezed again. Gabriella rolled her eyes and looked to the front again. She was surprised to see that Troy was walking up to them.

"Having fun?" Troy asked, smiling. Gabriella rolled her eyes yet again.

"Not really, Gabriella's grumpy." Chad nodded towards the Latina. Troy frowned a little.

"Well, we can't have that now can we?" He asked rhetorically. He squeezed himself in between Chad and Gabriella whilst placing his arms around them. He led them to the front and sat down in his desk. The pair looked at him with confused faces. "I want Chad on my right because he's my right hand man and Gabriella on my left." He said, glaring at Mei. Her smile looked strained.

"Well I agree with the placing of Chad. But maybe Gabriella..."

"Chad. Right. Gabriella. Left. Got that?" He asked her. Mei nodded. Chad took his place happily whilst Gabriella just looked shocked. She composed her face in time and just smiled widely as the camera clicked. Troy grinned happily as well, glad that he finally got Mei to listen to him. He looked to his left and smiled as he linked his hand with hers. Gabriella blushed a little and thought that maybe there was some hope for Troy Bolton.

* * *

**Different ending! I decided to shake things up a bit, put in some more Troyella moments and make Troy different to Jake Ryan!**

**Xoxo-catz-eyez-xoxo**


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